PSEi back to doldrums

The local stock market returned to the doldrums on Friday as investors pocketed short-term gains amid cautious sentiment across regional markets.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index slipped by 38.46 points or 0.53 percent to close at 7,244.79.

In the last two weeks, investors tended to dump shares whenever the index neared the 7,300 barrier.

For the volatile week, the index was still up by 9.58 points or a modest 0.13 percent from the previous week’s finish of 7,235.21.

Except for the financial counter, all sub-indices slipped on Friday. The PSEi was weighed down most by the services counter which fell by 1.32 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P6.98 billion. There was a modest net foreign selling of P48 million for the day compared to Thursday’s net foreign buying of P506 million.

There were 99 decliners that outnumbered 93 advancers while 48 stocks were unchanged.

Investors sold down shares of ICTSI, PLDT and Metrobank which all fell by over 2 percent. Conglomerates AGI and AEV both tumbled by over 1 percent.

Ayala Land, SM Investments, GT Capital, Ayala Corp., Aboitiz Power and DMCI also slipped.

On the other hand, the PSEi’s decline was tempered by the gains eked out by BDO and Semirara which both advanced by over 1 percent. URC, Metro Pacific, Megaworld and BPI also gained.

Notable gainers outside the PSEi included D&L (+2.52 percent) and Melco Crown (+0.79 percent).

Melco Crown reported on Friday a big increase in the gaming revenues of integrated casino-resort City of Dreams Manila.