The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) succumbed to last-minute profit-taking as investors sold off their positions amid the regular stock index review, with the main barometer settling in the red for the second straight day.
The benchmark PSEi slipped by 0.65 percent, or 43.14 points, to close at 6,556.20 while the broader All-Shares index dropped by 0.14 percent, or 5.08 points, to end at 3,527.17.
Claire Alviar, Philstocks Financial Inc. assistant manager for research and online engagement, explained that local stocks dipped because of investors selling the shares at the last minute amid the MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International) rebalancing.
“During the early part of the trading session, the market was in the green following the positive sentiment in Asia as Hong Kong eased the restrictions further,” she said.
“The local equities continued to dampen as we close the last trading day for the month amid the releases of the corporate earnings,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan added.
The subsectors were mixed. Financials, industrial and mining and oil indices were up while the rest declined.
Some 1.74 billion shares amounting to P21.18 billion were traded. Winners led losers, 117-80, while 40 issues were unchanged.
Shares of Globe Telecom Inc. were the most actively traded again, dropping by 5.13 percent to P1,775 each.
Following this were ACEN Corp., down 3.94 percent to P6.34; Manila Electric Co., up 0.95 percent to P317.80; SM Prime Holdings, down 2.99 percent to P34.05; BDO Unibank Inc., down 0.56 percent to P123.40; and SM Investments Corp., down 4.75 percent to P852.