PSEi sheds 78.6 points

The local stock barometer on Monday tumbled sharply as investors pocketed gains to take advantage of rich valuations.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 78.59 points or 1 percent to close at 7,730.95.

All counters were in the red, with the industrial, services, mining/oil and property firms declining by more than 1 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.95 billion.

There were 47 advancers which were overwhelmed by 142 decliners while 34 stocks were unchanged.

The day’s decline was led by MPI and Megaworld, which slipped by 3 percent while EDC and SM Prime faltered by more than 2 percent. ALI, PLDT, SMIC, BDO and URC were all down by more than 1 percent. AC, BPI and FGEN also contributed to the decline.

In the meantime, ICTSI, Metrobank, GTCAP, AP and JG Summit advanced.

“We are still firm to our sideways to down outlook despite the PSEi maintaining its hold above the 32-day moving average,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp. Doris C. Dumlao