Investors’ optimism about developments on new coronavirus vaccine allowed the local stock barometer to test the 7,200 mark in intra-ay trade before succumbing to profit-taking on Tuesday.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slipped by 69.95 points or 0.97 percent to close at 7,108.67. The market has gone back to levels last seen prior to the mid-March pandemic-induced lockdowns.
The index hit as high as 7,228.12 in intraday trade.
“Local shares succumbed to profit-taking after flirting with the 7,200 level while foreign funds flocked back into their region of domicile as more good news came in upon the announcement of the 90-percent effectiveness rate of AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.
From a capacity perspective, Limlingan said AstraZeneca’s current capacity was more than both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s potential output. Also, the company claims its vaccine has a more favorable storage requirement, and can be stored at regular refrigeration temperature for at least six months.
The market was weighed down by the industrial, holding firm, services and mining/oil counters, which all lost over 1 percent. The financial counter slipped by less than 1 percent.
The property counter gained a modest 0.28 percent.
Value turnover for the day hit P12.95 billion. Net foreign selling worth P621.19 million also contributed to the day’s decline.
There were 134 decliners that edged out 101 advancers, while 40 stocks were unchanged.
The PSEi was weighed down most by GT Capital and URC, which both slumped by over 3 percent.
SM Investments, PLDT, Metro Pacific and Globe Telecom all lost over 2 percent.
BPI, Metrobank and Jollibee all declined by over 1 percent.
SM Prime, Security Bank and Ayala Corp. all slipped by less than 1 percent.
On the other hand, BDO and RLC gained over 1 percent.
Investors also turned to non-PSEi stocks for trading opportunities. Basic Energy surged by 30.17 percent, while MerryMart rose by 13.22 percent.
The day’s most actively traded company was Global Ferronickel, which racked up 8.47 percent. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA INQ