Trading of local stocks was muted on Tuesday as selective buying of large-cap stocks barely made up for weakness across the broader market.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added a marginal 0.24 points, or 0.004 percent, to close at 6,172.81 against the backdrop of mostly weaker regional markets.“The PSEi was unaffected by the sell-off in stock markets abroad. Our market remains in limbo as investors weigh risks with rising coronavirus infections and overwhelmed medical facilities. It traded sideways throughout the day on low trading volumes,” said AAA Equities head of research Christopher Mangun.The index was shored up by the property counter, which gained 1.93 percent, while the holding firm counter also eked out minimal gains.
On the other hand, the mining/oil counter fell by 2.29 percent while the industrial counter lost 1.81 percent.
The services counter fell by 1 percent while the financial counter lost 0.91 percent.
Value turnover for the day amounted to P5.13 billion. There was P60.12 million worth of net foreign selling.
Despite the PSEi’s modest gain, market breadth was negative. There were 126 decliners that outnumbered 87 advancers, while 29 stocks were unchanged.Investors picked up shares of Puregold and Ayala Land, which both rose by over 3 percent, while Ayala Corp. added 2.32 percent.BDO and SM Prime both rose by over 1 percent.
On the other hand, BPI fell by 4.3 percent as investors mulled the impact of credit losses from ABS-CBN, which failed to renew its broadcast franchise. BPI is one of the biggest creditors of ABS-CBN.
Metro Pacific fell by 3.45 percent, while Meralco shed 2.97 percent.ICTSI, PLDT and URC all declined by over 1 percent, while SM Investments, the day’s most actively traded company, lost 0.53 percent.
Notable decliners outside the PSEi included Manila Bulletin, which slid by 21.57 percent.
GMA7 gave up 13.23 percent, reversing the day’s strong gains.Newly listed MerryMart shed 10.47 percent, while Now and Macroasia both fell by over 9 percent. INQ