Philippine stocks dip on profit-taking

MANILA, Philippines—The stocks index on Monday dipped as investors paused to pocket gains now that the market has surged to uncharted territory.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index gave up 5.71 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 5,434.13. Across the region, trading was mostly sluggish due to economic concerns, especially after the World Bank tempered growth

The index was weighed down mostly by the financial index, which fell by 1.18 percent due to profit-taking on big banking issues such as BPI, the most actively traded stock. BDO likewise tumbled albeit in a smaller volume.

The property and mining/oil counters were likewise in the red, while the industrial, holding firm and services counters posted marginal gains.

Value turnover amounted to P6.19 billion. Despite the overall index decline, there were 82 advancers against 77 decliners, while 47 stocks were unchanged.

Among the blue chips that gained were Megaworld and SM Investments, along with PLDT, ICTSI, MPI, Manila Water and URC.

The market also looked for trading plays among the second- and third-liners. The day’s second most actively traded stock, for instance, was Alcorn Gold, which was rumored to be the subject of a backdoor listing involving the assets of Chinese-Filipino businessman Lucio Co.