PSEi down on profit taking; week’s loss hits 1.35%

The local stock barometer tumbled to the 7,800 level yesterday on further profit-taking ahead of the weekend.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 82.27 points or 1.03 percent to close at 7,882.22 while regional markets had a mixed performance.

For the four-day trading week, the PSEi lost a total of 108.02 points or 1.35 percent.

“Philippine markets ended Friday on a downward note with US markets continuing to be pulled down by the decline in tech stocks,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at local stock brokerage Regina Capital.

At the same time, Limlingan said investors were negatively surprised by the decline in overseas remittances—a key driver of domestic consumption—to a 15-month low of $2.08 billion in April.

The market was weighed down most by the holding firm counter, which slid by 2.11 percent while the financial, industrial and services counters also slipped.

On the other hand, the mining/oil and property counters gained.

Total value turnover for the day was heavy at P29 billion.

Domestic investors were the ones unloading shares as foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of P606.89 million.

Profit-taking escalated as the index failed to sustain the break past 8,000 on Thursday, dealers said.

There were 111 decliners that edged out 85 advancers while 50 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was weighed down most by SM Investments, which fell by 3.06 percent while PLDT, ICTSI, BDO, Ayala Corp., JG Summit and Metrobank all tumbled by over 1 percent.

SM Prime, MPIC and URC also slipped.

On the other hand, Semirara gained 1.33 percent while ALI, Globe, Security Bank and Meralso all firmed up.