PSEi slips on profit-taking

The local stock barometer slipped below the 8,000 mark Monday as investors pocketed gains after a six-day run-up.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 43.81 points or 0.55 percent to close at 7,986.25.

Cemex Holdings, which debuted on the stock exchange Monday, defied the downturn. The first cement firm to list on the PSE in two decades advanced by 3.26 percent. It was the most actively traded stock with P2.94 billion worth of shares changing hands at the PSE.

Manny Cruz, chief strategist at Asiasec Equities, said the PSEi’s decline was due to profit-taking alongside the P25.1-billion Cemex initial public offering.

“Traditionally, it has been an occurrence that when there’s a hefty offering, share prices succumb to profit-taking,” Cruz said. “But this is a healthy pullback. We are still bullish on the market.”

Cruz said the PSEi might next target 8,125 possibly by August, given the large amount

of foreign funds flowing into the market. By yearend, he said the PSEi could reach a new high of 8,400.

Meanwhile, all counters ended lower but the most battered was the property sub-index, which slipped by 1 percent. Total value turnover for the day amounted to P8.7 billion. Foreign money continued to flow into the exchange as net foreign buying amounted to P498 million.  Doris Dumlao-Abadilla