Stocks down on profit-taking

Philippine stocks sank Friday after a one-day rebound as investors stayed conservative with the market hovering near recent-highs, an analyst said.

Sentiment abroad was likewise depressed by fears of rekindled financial tension in Europe because of a Portuguese holding firm’s debt woes.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed down 0.52 percent, or 36.12 points, to 6,901.09 while the broader all shares index was down 0.48 percent to 4,136.50.

All subsectors Friday were in the red, led by holding firms, which fell 0.76 percent. This was followed by property, down 0.57 percent, and financials, down 0.55 percent.

Jonathan Ravelas, chief strategist with BDO Unibank Inc., said in an interview yesterday that investors were taking a wait-and-see approach ahead of the release of second-quarter corporate earnings results.

“Market players are concerned with risk-aversion,” Ravelas said, adding that players wanted to see if current valuation levels were justified.

He said he expected the market to trade between 6,800 and 7,000 in the coming weeks, with a chance to breach that upper limit if earnings beat expectations.

Alliance Global Group Inc., whose chair Andrew Tan sold shares in a P7.86-billion private placement, sank 3.69 percent to P28.70 each, leading the list of most actively traded stocks.

This was followed by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., down 0.17 percent to P3,000, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., down 0.67 percent to P89.50, Ayala Land Inc., up 0.16 percent to P31.40, and SM Investments Corp., down 1.54 percent to P799. Miguel R. Camus