Shares slip as investors pocket gains

MANILA  —Philippine stocks tumbled on Monday as investors bagged profits ahead of US inflation data release, although strong foreign buying held the benchmark index above 6,600.

By the closing bell, the Philippine Stock Exchange Index shed 0.31 percent, or 20.42 points, to 6,609.22 while the broader All Shares Index slipped 0.09 percent, or 3 points, to 3,499.51.

“Philippine shares succumbed to profit taking at the end of session after trading in the green for most of the day. This week, investors await the inflation data as well as the big bank earnings,” Luis Gerardo Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development, said on Monday.

A total of 412.88 million shares valued at P4.3 billion changed hands while foreigners were net buyers to the tune of P1.97 billion, data from the stock exchange showed.

READ: Asian stocks decline after Wall Street logs worst week in the last 10

PSE subsectors were mostly in the red, with holding firms and financials among the top losers while property and industrial climbed. BDO Unibank was the most actively traded stock as it rose 0.6 percent to P132.30 per share.

It was followed by Ayala Land Inc., down 0.87 percent to P34; SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 1.21 percent to P33.50; Ayala Corp., down 1.41 percent to P701.50; and SM Investments Corp., down 0.67 percent to P890 per share. Bank of the Philippine Islands was down 0.48 percent to P104; GT Capital Holdings Inc., up 0.66 percent to P610; Converge ICT Solutions Inc., up 2.97 percent to P9.70; International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 1.19 percent to P249; and Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., down 0.46 percent to P54.20 per share.

Overall, there were 99 advancers against 93 losers while 51 companies closed unchanged.  INQ

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