Index snaps 9-day streak

The stock  index on Thursday pulled back for the first time after gaining ground for nine days, slipping below the 7,800 mark, as rich valuations attracted profit-takers.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 79.67 points, or 1.02 percent, to close at 7,764.39.

The industrial and services counters led the day’s decline, both slipping by over 1 percent. Only the mining/oil counter firmed up.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P9.86 billion. There were 82 advancers against 105 decliners, while 39 stocks were unchanged.

Jollibee slipped by 2.77 percent. ICTSI likewise tumbled by 2.55 percent, leading the index lower. ALI and Bloomberry faltered by nearly 2 percent.

URC, SMIC, AGI and AC all declined by
over 1 percent, while BDO, EDC, PLDT,

BPI, Metrobank and Megaworld also contributed to the day’s decline.

Outside of the PSEi, retail plays Puregold (-3 percent) and RRHI (-2.21 percent) were also hit by profit-taking.

Among the few that bucked the downturn were MPIC (+1.17 percent) and Semirara (+0.65 percent).

MPIC grew its 2014 core profit by 18 percent to P8.5 billion. MPIC chair Manuel Pangilinan also announced a potential partnership involving Meralco for a $2-billion gas project in Luzon.

Dealers said that the market would be susceptible to profit-taking as many stocks had reached overbought levels. Doris C. Dumlao