Shares flat as investors pocket gains from rally

LOCAL STOCKS were flat on Wednesday as investors resorted to profit taking ahead of the release of 2017 financial reports next month.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index ( PSEi) barely moved yesterday, shedding 0.03% or 3.43 points to 8,920.29.

The broader all-shares index meanwhile gained 0.10% or 5.54 points to 5,144.17.

“Locally, the market was tired after successive winning sessions including the last days of December. Index saw some pullback amid a lack of news-flow in the local front and as investors await the corporate results season which will be in full swing next month,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said.

The main index has been setting new record highs in the previous days, breaching the 8,900 mark for the first time on Tuesday, riding on the anticipation for corporate income tax cuts under the second package of the tax reform program.

“We saw a ‘ pause to refresh’ after yesterday’s (Tuesday’s) big gains. We may see more pullbacks but these are all buying opportunities. The mining sector really held the market together with gains from SCC (Semirara Mining and Power Corp.),” Eagle Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in a text message on Wednesday.

Overnight, Wall Street bounced back, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.41% or 102.8 points to 25,385.50. The S&P 500 index picked up 0.13% or 3.58 points to 2,751.29, while the Nasdaq Composite index inched up 0.09% or 6.19 points to 7,163.58.

Back home, sectoral counters were split, with four advancers and two decliners. The mining and oil sub-index jumped 2.18% or 253.53 points to 11,863.52, followed by services, which rose 1.37% or 22.13 points to 1,636.04. Financials added 1.23% or 28.20 points to 2,320.72, while industrials climbed 0.23% or 27 points to 11,691.14.

On the other hand, property gave up 1.33% or 55.28 points to 4,082.66, as holding firms lost 0.38% or 34.69 points to 9,095.73.

A total of 672.17 million issues changed hands on Wednesday for a value turnover of P6.53 billion. This is thinner than the P8.36 billion recorded on Tuesday.

Advancers narrowly beat decliners, 105 to 104, while 53 issues remained unchanged.

Foreign investors continued their buying streak, with net foreign inflows recorded at P626.45 million, although this was less than half of the P1.42 billion posted on Tuesday.

Most other Southeast Asian stock markets took a breather on Wednesday, in line with Asian peers, with the Philippine index retreating from a record high on profit booking.

Asia shares ex-Japan slipped 0.30% after six straight days of gains that had taken it within a stone’s throw from a record high touched in November 2007. •