PSEi ends lower on profit-taking

Profit taking on Wednesday ended an eight-day rally that helped bring the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) to new all-time highs.

The PSEi on Tuesday sank 0.57 percent, or 45.99 points, to 8,052.69. The broader all-shares index was also down 0.4 percent to 4,610.10. The measure had hit a record high 26 times before Wednesday’s decline. Year-to-date, the PSEi is up 11.5 percent.

Volume inched higher with about 1.31 billion shares valued at P8.37 billion changing hands. Gainers and decliners were almost evenly matched, at 83 to 86, while 58 companies closed unchanged.

Only the services sector closed higher. Losers were led by the industrial sub-index, which fell 1.2 percent, followed by property and financials, both down 0.47 percent.

Ayala Land Inc. remained the most actively traded stock as it closed unchanged at P40 a share. This was followed by BDO Unibank, down 1.17 percent to P118.50; Ayala Corp., down 0.06 percent to P800; Metro Pacific Investments Corp., down 3.93 percent to P4.65, and D&L Industries Inc., down 3.21 percent to P18.70 a share. Miguel R. Camus