Philippine stocks dip on profit-taking

MANILA, Philippines—Local stocks opened favorably on Monday but succumbed to profit-taking toward the end of the session as investors navigated cautiously above the 5,000 mark.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 12.81 points, or 0.25 percent, to close at 5,029.63.

The index was weighed down by losses in AEV, BPI, ALI, Metrobank and MPIC, First Metro Securities said, noting that the local stock market had sunk into negative territory in the last hour of trade.

AGI, Globe Telecom, Meralco and JG Summit also contributed to the PSEi’s decline.  There was likewise some profit-taking on Security Bank and ORE.

The day’s losses were tempered by the gains of the services counter, which went up by 1.47 percent, in turn aided by the gains eked out by index heavyweight PLDT.

Other index stocks that bucked the downturn were SM Investments, Megaworld, URC, SM Prime and Philex. Cebu Holdings, Vantage Equities and Nickel Asia were also up in heavy trade.

Value turnover was relatively thin at P5 billion. There were 71 advancers, which were edged out by 94 decliners, while 46 stocks were unchanged.

Dealers said overall sentiment remained upbeat but some investors were locking up gains from some blue chips to pick up selected second- and third-liners.

The index has so far rallied by 18 percent since the start of the year, beaten only by the Japanese bourse, which was benefiting from reconstruction activities after last year’s massive earthquake.

“We suggest waiting for reactions or consolidations to offer better risk-reward prospects,” said CitisecOnline.com chief technical analyst Juan Barredo. “There will, however, be standouts and rotational players into the interim which will give continuing trend action to traders.”

“Small caps and counter-trenders may yet proceed to take inflows, especially after short-term profit-taking actions proceed from mainline stocks struggling though corrective swings,” Barredo said.