PSEi down 2.5% on profit-taking

The local stock barometer returned to the doldrums on Friday as investors pocketed recent gains ahead of the weekend.

Ending a three-day rebound and missing a sustained upswing across regional markets, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) tumbled by 134.96 points or 2.5 percent to close at 5,266.62.

Because of the gains made in the last three days, parti­cularly on Thursday, the PSEi was still a net gainer of 487.86 points or 10 percent on a week-on-week basis as investors cheered a massive COVID-19 spending program in the Uni­ted States. Locally, the week marked the second week of the lockdown of the whole of Luzon.

On Friday, the market was weighed down most by the property counter, which fell by 4.63 percent.

The financial counter lost 3 percent while the holding firm and mining/oil counters both declined by over 2 percent.

The industrial counter slipped by 0.66 percent.

On the other hand, the services counter rose by 3 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.95 billion. There was modest net foreign selling of P23.35 million.

Despite the PSEi’s decline, market breadth was positive. There were 101 advancers that outnumbered 90 decli­ners, while 36 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was weighed down most by Aboitiz Power, which tumbled by 13.33 percent, while BDO Unionbank lost 11.75 percent.

Property giant SM Prime slid by 8 percent, wile SM Investments and JG Summit both lost nearly 5 percent.

Ayala Land and Metro Pacific both rose by over 4 percent, while GT Capital declined by 2.39 percent.

URC and Security Bank both slipped by over 1 percent.

The PSEi’s decline was mitigated by gains posted by retailer Puregold, which surged by 14.04 percent.

BPI gained 5.7 percent after announcing a successful bond offer reaching nearly P34 billion despite the COVID-19 crisis.

Metrobank and Jollibee both advanced by nearly 5 percent, while Megaworld added 3 percent.

Ayala Corp., the day’s most actively traded company, rose by 2.28 percent.

PLDT, Globe Telecom and ICTSI also firmed up by less than 1 percent.

Outside of the PSEi, one notable gainer was ISM, which rose by 6.25 percent.