PSEi stays above 7,000

The local stock barometer dipped but held on to the 7,000 mark yesterday alongside cautious regional markets.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 13.52 points or 0.19 percent to close at 7,047.08 due to profit-taking on large-cap stocks.

Elsewhere in the region, trading was mostly sluggish on weak US factory data. Based on a Reuters report citing the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), the US manufacturing sector contracted last month to its weakest level since June 2009, though construction spending rose in October to its highest since December 2007.

At the local market, the stock market decline was led by the financial and holding firm counters while the industrial, services, mining/oil and property counters all ended with gains.

Value turnover for the day stood at P6.4 billion. Despite the PSEi’s decline, market breadth was positive as there were 99 advancers that edged out 67 decliners while 58 stocks were unchanged.

The decline was led by BDO and JG Summit, which slumped by more than 2 percent, while RLC and AC lost more than 1 percent. URC, Aboitiz Power, Jollibee and Emperador also slipped.

Outside of PSEi stocks, Robinsons Retail fell by 2.1 percent.

Meanwhile, Meralco bucked the day’s downturn with its 1.96-percent gain.