Profit-taking pulls down PH shares by 1.22%

The local stock barometer pulled back on Tuesday as the recent breakout to the 8,300 level spurred some profit-taking.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 101.72 points, or 1.22 percent, to close at 8,263.57.

AAA Securities head of research Christopher Mangun said most of the profit-taking happened right before the close. “This was to be expected after the big day that we had yesterday (Monday).”

The retreat is a “healthy pullback” after the massive gains in the prior session, he said.

“Investors took profits on their blue-chip positions after seeing almost no action for the last several months. As long as the PSEi stays above 8,150, there should be nothing to worry about. And with second quarter earnings out soon, we may see it challenge the next resistance at 8,550,” he said.

The 8,150 level is seen as critical number because this marks the PSEi’s 20-percent rebound after bottoming out at 6,790.50. A market is typically deemed to have entered bull territory when stock prices have risen by 20 percent.

Domestic investors were the ones who mostly pocketed gains on Tuesday as net foreign buying exceeded P1 billion for the second straight session. Value turnover for the day was heavy at P10.5 billion. There was P1.18 billion in net foreign buying for the day.

On Tuesday, the index was weighed down most by the industrial, services and property subindices, which all tumbled by over 1 percent. The holding firm counter also dipped.

On the other hand, the mining/oil counter surged by 3.7 percent while the financial counter gained a modest 0.26 percent.

There were 121 advancers that edged out 85 decliners, while 48 stocks were unchanged.

Investors dumped shares of BDO, which slid by 5.06 percent, while Globe Telecom fell by 4.12 percent.