PSE index snaps rally as investors pocket gains

SHARES dropped on Monday, snapping the benchmark index’s eight-day rally as investors resorted to profit taking.

The 30- member Philippine Stock Exchange index ( PSEi) shed 0.28% or 24.88 points to finish yesterday’s session at 8,745.12.

The all-shares index declined by 0.20% or 10.55 points to 5,065.77.

“The PSEi probably succumbed to some profit taking today, after gaining more than 200 points or 2.4% during the first three trading days of the year,” Timson Securities, Inc. Marketing Head Mark Levinson R. Koa said in a text message on Monday.

Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan noted that the decline came after “successive days of breaking records the previous week.”

The PSEi started trading above the 8,700 mark last Jan. 3, allowing it to post three straight record highs during the shortened trading week. This boosted analysts’ expectations for the index to breach the 9,000 level this year.

Mr. Limlingan added that the PSEi’s drop follows the release of employment data in the United States.

“The unemployment rate remained at 4.1%, matching the lowest level since December 2000 for the third straight month, with benefits hitting a widening swath of the population,” Mr. Limlingan said.

Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Monday, mirroring gains on Wall Street last week and as expectations of higher corporate earnings buoyed sentiment.

Wall Street gained last Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovering above the 25,000 mark to close at 25,295.87, 0.88% or 220.74 points higher. The S&P 500 index added 0.70% or 19.16 points to 2,743.15; while the Nasdaq Composite Index edged 0.83% or 58.64 points higher to 7,136.56.

Back home, sectoral counters ended mixed with four losers and two advancers. The property subindex posted the largest decline at 1.34% or 55.25 points to 4,040.97, followed by mining and oil which lost 0.91% or 106.05 points to 11,493.44. Financials gave up 0.50% or 11.28 points to close at 2,242.20; while services decreased 0.36% or 5.92 points to 1,600.73.

On the other hand, holding firms added 0.38% or 34.76 points to close the session at 8,975.44, while industrials climbed 0.25% or 28.87 points to 11,529.

The market saw a total of 1.09 billion issues change hands valued at P7.07 billion, down from Friday’s P10.57 billion.

Decliners beat advancers, 128 to 75, while 43 issues closed flat.

Net foreign inflows climbed to P1.2 billion on Monday from the P892.18 million recorded during the previous trading session.

Among the day’s most actively traded stocks were Sy-led companies, with BDO Unibank, Inc. giving up 2.31% to P156.30 apiece. SM Investments Corp. added 0.49% to P1,025 each, while SM Prime Holdings, Inc. lost 2.41% to P38.40.