Local shares end week in the red

MANILA  -The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) wrapped up another week on a bad note after trading in the red for two straight days, still hounded by the US government’s debt ceiling issue which prompted many investors to take profits.

The benchmark PSEi dropped by 0.46 percent, or 30.02 points, to settle at 6,530.20 while the broader All Shares index fell by 0.25 percent, or 8.71 points, to close at 3,488.08.

Claire Alviar, Philstocks Financial Inc. assistant manager for research and online engagement, said “investors booked more gains on the last trading day of the week to avoid any uncertainties over the weekend, particularly with the ongoing worries over the US debt ceiling.”

Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said, “Wall Street still continues to watch developments on the debt ceiling negotiations, and also as the MSCI rebalancing closes in.”

Nearly all PSE subsectors were in red territory, with services sustaining the largest drop of 1.25 percent. Only mining and oil gained, albeit only slightly at 0.15 percent.

Some 1.04 billion shares valued at P4.6 billion were traders. Losers outnumbered winners, 98-79, while 37 issues were unchanged.

Among the most actively traded stocks, Robinsons Land Corp. shed the most, decreasing by 2.58 percent to P14.36 each. International Container Terminal Services Inc. decreased by 2.50 percent to P195 apiece.

Petron Corp. gained 10 percent to end at P4.65 each while AgriNurture Inc. inched up by 0.55 percent to P7.32 each. SM Investments Corp. rose by 0.44 percent to P920 apiece.

Three other firms saw their share prices decline: Ayala Land Inc. (down by 0.38 percent to P25.90), Ayala Corp. (0.80 percent to P686) and Bank of the Philippine Islands (2.43 percent to P100.50).

BDO Unibank Inc. and SM Prime Holdings Inc. remained flat at P135 and P34, respectively.

—Jordeene B. Lagare