Stocks down on profit-taking

The local stock barometer shied away from the 8,100 mark Friday as rich valuations tempted investors to pocket gains from the market’s strong run-up.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 76.95 points or 0.95 percent to close at 8,025.35, tracking the pullback in Wall Street and in regional market.

Elsewhere in the region, there were fresh concerns that stimulus hopes might not materialize.

Friday’s pullback wiped out most gains made by the local stock barometer earlier in the week. The index ended slightly lower than last week’s finish of 8,030.06.

On Thursday, the index closed above 8,100 for the first time this year and hit a 15-month high. However, valuations have gone up way beyond historical levels at around 21 times projected earnings.

The day’s decline was led by the financial and property counters, which both tumbled by over 1 percent. On the other hand, the mining/oil counter firmed up. Total value turnover amounted to P7.75 billion. For the first time in many sessions, there was just as much foreign selling as foreign buying (P3.8 billion).

Despite the PSEi’s decline, market breadth was positive as investors looked for buying opportunities outside the main basket. There were 113 advancers that edged out 95 decliners while 43 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was weighed down by SM Prime, MPI and Metrobank, which both slipped more than 2 percent, while PLDT, URC and Ayala declined by over 1 percent. ALI, BDO, JG Summit and AEV also slipped. On the other hand, AGI, Jollibee and EDC gained more than 1 percent.

Outside the PSEi, investors bought shares of newly listed Cemex (+2.05 percent), Puregold (+0.94 percent), Security Bank (+0.38 percent) and Alterra (+5.4 percent), which rose in heavy volume. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla