Philippines stocks end 7-day run

Photo from pse.com.ph

MANILA, Philippines—Local stocks dipped Wednesday after a seven-day run to all-time highs as investors pocketed recent gains.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index gave up 18.56 points, or 0.33 percent, to close at 5,687.72. Tuesday’s record peak of 5,706.28 was revisited.

Most counters ended in the red except for the financial index, which eked out modest gains on higher prices of BDO (+1.94 percent) and Metrobank (+0.46 percent).

The index was weighed down most by SM Prime (-3.61 percent), Belle (-1.76 percent), SM Investments (-1.74 percent), URC (-1.74 percent), EDC (-1.73 percent), AEV (-1.44 percent), DMCI (-1.19 percent) and FGEN (-1.09 percent). Jollibee, RLC, PLDT and Meralco also ended lower.

Among non-index stocks, GT Capital and PNB also closed lower.

On the other hand, the outperformers among PSEi stocks were GERI (+2 percent), ELI (+4.85 percent), ABS-CBN Preferred (+5.02 percent) and STI (+3.6 percent). These stocks also traded in heavy volume.

Across the region, stock markets were mostly higher on better prospects for the Chinese economy. This developed as new Communist Party chief Xi Jinping signified the government’s plan to stabilize exports and implement effective intervention.