Market closes 2 pts lower

THE LOCAL stock barometer paused after a three-day ascent but stayed within the 7,100 level Thursday as telecom stocks succumbed to profit-taking.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index reversed modest gains in early trade to close 2.01 points or 0.03 percent lower at 7,106.79.  Elsewhere in the region, most markets retreated on weak data out of Japan and Germany.

Weak trade and machinery orders data from Germany and Japan stoked global growth jitters at a time that China is slowing down.

At the local market, the decline was led by the services counter, which slumped by 1.73 percent due to profit-taking on telcos PLDT (-3.36 percent) and Globe (-2.06 percent).

Jollibee fell by 1.52 percent while SMIC, SM Prime, BPI and MPI also slipped.

All other indices gained, especially the mining/oil counter which rose by 1.08 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers, resulting in net foreign outflow of P130 million for the day.

Despite the PSEi’s decline, market breadth was positive. There were 98 advancers that edged out 67 decliners while 42 stocks were unchanged.

LTG gained by 2.43 percent while URC, GTCAP and ALI gained over 1 percent.  AC, JG Summit, Megaworld, AGI and EDC also gained.

Outside of the PSEi, one notable gainer was Suntrust which surged by 50 percent in heavy trade. Security Bank also gained by 0.85 percent. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla