Dovish BSP douses PSEI gains
MANILA, Philippines — Last-minute profit-taking after intraday gains on positive sentiment encouraged by the dovish stance of the Monetary Board prompted the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) to end the week in the red territory.
The benchmark PSEi slid 0.14 percent, or 9.51 points, to close at 6,618.69 while the wider All-Shares index dipped 0.01 percent, or 0.37 percent, to end at 3,524.15.
“The market mostly traded in the green during the session as the sentiment was lifted following Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s signal to cut interest rates as early as August,” said Claire Alviar, assistant manager for research and online engagement at Philstocks Financial Inc.
The BSP kept the key interest rate at 6.5 percent for the fifth policy meeting but hinted at possible cuts totaling 50 basis points later this year.
READ: BSP keeps key rate at 17-year high as inflation risk remains
“However, negative cues from abroad weighed on the market, prompting investors to sell shares at the last minute,” Alviar added, citing the overnight decline in Wall Street and other Asian markets.
Winners lead losers
Subsectors were mixed. All were in the green except for the financials and services indices, which fell by 0.43 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.
Over 1.1 billion shares valued at P19.41 billion were traded. Winners led losers, 93-91, while 67 issues were unchanged.
BDO Unibank Inc. shares were the most actively traded, rising by 1.99 percent to P138.70 each.
This was followed by Globe Telecom Inc., up 3.09 percent to P2,000; International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 3.41 percent to P334; Ayala Land Inc., up 0.17 percent to P29.40; SM Prime Holdings, up 2.64 percent to P29.20; and SM Investments Inc., down 0.57 percent to P875.
Other active names were Jollibee Foods Corp., up 0.89 percent to P226; Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., down 2.1 percent to P70; Ayala Corp., up 1.31 percent to P620; and Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 2.07 percent to P123. —TYRONE JASPER C. PIAD
