The local stock barometer yesterday flirted with the 8,200 mark for the first time this year, but the euphoria brought about by the lower-than-expected January inflation did not last long.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended 11.03 points or 0.14 percentlower to close at 8,058.45. This was after hitting 8,213.71, a new intraday high for this year.
As foreign funds continued to flow into local equities, domestic investors turned their attention to second- and third-liner stocks.
“There was a lot of excitement at the PSE after the release of January inflation which came in at 4.4 percent, below the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ expectations of 4.5 percent,” Eagle Equities head of research Christopher Mangun said.
“The main index started the day higher, even touching 8,200 in intraday trading. However, thin trading volume and some profit-taking caused a reversal,” he said.
Net foreign buying for the day amounted to P947 million.
“The market didn’t trade as much as I had expected, which caused the reversal in the afternoon session. However, we still had a good day overall. Expect a closing above 8,100 before the end of the week,” Mangun said.
The PSEi was led higher by the mining/oil counter, which rose by 1.37 percent, while the financial, industrial, services and property counters also inched up.
The holding firm counter slipped by 1.23 percent.
Value turnover for the day hit P7.31 billion. There were 140 advancers that edged out 76 decliners while 42 were unchanged.
The PSEi was dragged down by JG Summit, which fell by 3.71 percent. SM Investments, URC and Metrobank all declined by over 1 percent. Ayala Corp., PLDT and RRHI also declined.
Outside of the PSEi, one notable decliner was PHA, which lost 5.26 percent.
Jollibee and ICTSI gained over 2 percent. BPI added 1.75 percent. Ayala Land and BDO also firmed up.
Outside of the PSEi, Abacore and ISM gained 12 percent and 8.19 percent, respectively.
Wilcon Depot added 2.82 percent while Megawide and Greenergy both advanced by over 1 percent.