PH shares take a breather; index down 1.1%

The local stock barometer pulled back on Tuesday as some local investors pocketed gains after a four-day run-up.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 85.54 points or 1.1 percent to close at 7,702.12.  Elsewhere in the region, trading sentiment was mixed.

Noting Monday’s selldown at the close, local stock brokerage Papa Securities said the 7,900 barrier seemed to be the resistance to watch for in the coming days.

In a research note, Papa Securities analyst Gio Perez said technical indicators were pointing to the possibility of more profit-taking in the near term.

“Watch for the previous 200-day moving average breakout point of 7,514, which should now transition into a support level,” he said.

On Tuesday, all counters ended in the red, weighed down most by the property and mining/oil counters, which both slipped by over 1 percent.

Value turnover was thin at P6 billion but foreigners were still in a net buying position albeit at a modest amount of P152.33 million.  This suggested that domestic investors took advantage of the recent rally to lock up gains.

There were 118 decliners that overwhelmed 69 advancers, while 44 stocks were unchanged.

Investors sold down shares of Ayala Land, Metrobank, Ayala Corp., Metro Pacific and RRHI, which all lost over 2 percent.

BPI, ICTSI and LTG all slipped by over 1 percent.

Puregold, URC, SM Investments, Jollibee, BDO, AGI and JG Summit all slipped.

Outside the PSEi, one notable decliner was ISM, the backdoor listing vehicle for Udenna Corp., which fell by 4.31 percent.

On the other hand, Megaworld gained 1.02 percent, while Security Bank ended slightly higher.