PSEi trims gains after hitting intra-day high

THE stock market hit a new intra- day record on Tuesday but trimmed its gains as the day ended.

After jumping to as high as 8,969, profit- taking pulled the bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) down to a close of 8,865.13, still up 0.08 percent or 7.41 points from the previous day.

The broader All Shares, meanwhile, eked out a 0.01-percent rise, adding just two-thirds of a point, to close at 5,127.25.

“It reached a certain high so Summit Securities, Inc. President Harry Liu said.

A Regina Capital Development Corp. analyst said the PSEi mirrored expectations of continued growth in US markets, which were closed on Monday due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“Locally, investors brushed off the weaker-than-expected remittance data,” the analyst said.

The government reported on Monday that money sent home by Filipinos abroad hit $2.52 billion in November, up 3.2 percent yearon-year. The growth was substantially lower than the 18.4 percent recorded a year earlier.

The analyst, however, said the “bullishness of the market continues to be obvious … the 8,924 level has now turned into a tentative support for the index”.

Most sub-indices recorded gains

More than 627 million issues valued at P7.4 billion changed hands.

Winners led losers, 108 to 102, while 61 issues were unchanged.