Index pares gains as investors turn jittery

Stock market investors took profits yesterday, pushing the index 65.38 points, or 0.81 percent lower to finish below the 8,000 mark at 7,983.97 while the broader All Shares gauge lost 27.72 points, or 0.58 percent, to end at 4,739.21.

Traders said the market was once again jittery over the possibility of war between the US and North Korea, which are locked in a dangerous cycle of escalation.

North Korea could be preparing more missile launches, according to South Korea, which US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said would be met with “massive military response.”

Commenting on yesterday’s trading session, Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said Philippine and US stocks retreated coming back from a holiday break as investors sold stocks due to tension at the two divided Korean.

“Sentiments are likely to remain weak but with investors eyeing developments at Korea. The uncertainties are that Russia’s US Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Tuesday that a US bid for the Security Council to vote on Sept. 11 on new sanctions is ‘a little premature.’” Limlingan said.

Most indexes closed in the red, with market volume thin at just P6.72 billion.

Market breadth also negative, as decliners outnumbered losers, 111 to 71 while 66 issues were left unchanged.