Stocks decline anew as investors pocket profits

LOCAL EQUITIES fell on Monday as investors went profit taking ahead of the trading break on Tuesday for the Islam holiday Eid’l Adha.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gave up 1.09% or 82.99 points to 7,500.53 yesterday, reverting gains posted on Friday. The broader all-shares index also lost 0.79% or 36.56 points to 4,570.13.

“It was more of a profit taking by most of investors considering the fact that [Tuesday] is a holiday. This was after we had a run-up last week, which definitely gave the investors more room to go on profit,” Diversified Securities, Inc. trader Aniceto K. Pangan said in a phone interview yesterday.

Papa Securities Corp. trader Gabriel Jose F. Perez noted the same, saying the PSEi bucked the upward trajectory seen in international markets.

“The PSEi closed 82.99 points down at 7,500.53 despite the recent optimism in the global markets from the resumption of US and China trade talks. The market may have been weak in anticipation for [Tuesday]’s holiday, with many staying in the sidelines as reflected by the low value turnover,” Mr. Perez said in an e-mail.

International markets ended mostly higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 0.43% or 110.59 points to 25,669.32. The S&P 500 index rose 0.33% or 9.44 points to 2,850.13, while the Nasdaq Composite index also went up 0.13% or 9.81 points to 7,816.33.

Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Monday ahead of the Sino-US trade talks due later in the week, with Indonesia climbing on broad-based buying.

China and the United States are set to hold lower-level trade talks on Wednesday, offering hope that they might resolve an escalating tariff war that threatens to engulf all trade between the world’s two largest economies.

“Even if nothing conclusive may be achieved this week, there could be an implicit promise of a ceasefire with no escalation in the interim,” Mizuho Bank said in a note.

The Jakarta index started the week on a strong note, rising as much as 1.6%, after a long weekend. Financial markets in Indonesia were closed on Friday for a national holiday.

Back home, most sectoral indices ended in negative territory, with holding firms leading the decline as it dropped 2.09% or 156.81 points to 7,312.52. Mining and oil shed 1.55% or 153.49 points to 9,733.50; industrials slumped 0.85% or 93.70 points to 10,882.85; financials slipped 0.62% or 11.15 points to 1,785.45; while property went down 0.26% or 9.99 points to 3,762.14.

Services was the lone sectoral index that ended higher, rising 0.22% or 3.34 points to 1,515.52.

Foreign investors continued their selling spree, albeit slower as net foreign outflows ended at P669.91 million, lower than the previous session’s P900.64 million.

Some 1.42 billion issues switched hands valued at P5.40 billion, slightly lower than the P5.54 billion recorded on Friday.

Decliners outpaced advancers, 115 to 85, while 40 names remained unchanged. •