PSEi in slight dip; Ayala Corp’s discounted share sale cited

AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – The local stock barometer was a tad lower on Thursday, weighed down by a discounted place-out of Ayala Corp. shares.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 0.54 point or 0.007 percent to close at 7,268.95 in mixed trade. The holding firm and mining/oil counters dragged down the index while the industrial, services and property counters eked out modest gains.

Trading was halted at the local bourse from 1:46 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. due to a technical glitch. But the session was not extended despite the disruption.

Value turnover was heavy at P21.09 billion, bloated by a $275 million sale of AC shares at P660 per share or a discount to Wednesday’s close of P717 per share. AC thus fell by 4.88 percent to close at P682 per share.

There were 98 decliners that edged out 84 advancers while 42 stocks were unchanged.

Apart from AC, the PSEi was weighed down by BDO (-1.39 percent) while Bloomberry, AP and JG Summit also declined.

On the other hand, SM and BPI bucked the downturn, both rising by over 1 percent while PLDT, URC, GTCAP, AGI and ICTSI also slightly firmed up.

Outside of PSEi stocks, the notable gainers were newly listed retailer SSI (+2.59 percent) and agribusiness firm Vitarich (+6.06 percent). CMT fell by 1.65 percent after sizzling in the last few days while PLC also dipped by 1.44 percent.

Elsewhere in the region, trading was mostly soured by the US Federal Reserve minutes, which indicated concerns on low US inflation. There was likewise caution ahead of the release of the latest US jobless data report.