The local stock barometer slipped on Tuesday after failing to sustain its climb past the 7,000 barrier in intra-day trade.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell by 47.78 points or 0.69 percent to close at 6,920.36. Elsewhere in the region, trading sentiment was mixed.
“Investors in Philippine stocks turned into profit-takers after hitting the 7,000 psychological mark intraday to lock in gains over several weeks of successive run-ups. In addition, trading activity was focused on the maiden voyage of RL Commercial REIT (RCR), which finished slightly up to end its first trading session,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.
Value turnover amounted to P31.17 billion, buoyed by the landmark listing of P23 billion worth of secondary shares of real estate investment trust RL Commercial REIT (RCR) sold to the public by sponsor Robinsons Land at P6.45 a share. This marked the largest REIT offering seen in the market so far.
RCR’s shares firmed up by 0.16 percent to close at P6.46 per share.
Net foreign buying, mostly those that bought into RCR, amounted to P3.6 billion.
The local market was dragged down by holding firm and mining/oil counters, which both fell by over 1 percent.
The financial, industrial and property counters both declined by less than 1 percent.
The services counter bucked the day’s downturn as it eked out a modest gain of 0.27 percent.
There were 121 decliners that outnumbered 70 advancers, while 54 stocks were unchanged.
The main index was dragged down by index heavyweight SM Investments, which lost 2.08 percent.
ICTSI, JG Summit and GT Capital all declined by over 1 percent.
AC Energy, BPI, URC, Ayala Corp., Ayala Land, SM Prime, LTG and Jollibee all shed less than 1 percent.
On the other hand, Globe Telecom and Converge bucked the day’s downturn, rising by 2.72 percent and 3.45 percent, respectively.