BOURSE SNAPS 3-DAY RALLY

THE stock market ended its threeday winning streak on Friday after investors decided to cash in.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index ( PSEi) dropped by 2.5 percent or 134.96 points to close at its intraday low of 5,266.2, while the wider All Shares dipped by 0.96 percent to end at 3,219.50.

Analysts had expected the market to close on a positive note, taking cues on the US rally overnight, but PSEi failed to sustain its 5,493.58 opening and intraday high of 5,641.94.

“Investors decided to go on profit-taking [as] foreign investors continued its selling at more than P23 million,” Diversified Securities Inc. Trader Aniceto Pangan said, adding that the market had been “substantially on the upside in the past three trading sessions.”

The stock market closed on Thursday up 7.44 percent or 373.82 points to 5,401.58.

Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales, said “shares in the Philippines were sold ahead of the weekend as investors worried about the release of recordbreaking initial jobless claims while the [US] Senate passed a

massive economic stimulus bill amid Covid-19.”

Covid-19 stands for the coronavirus disease 2019, which first emerged in the city of Wuhan in China’s Hubei province. It has spread to dozens of countries, infecting 462,684 people as of Friday.

In the Philippines, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases rose to 803 on Friday. The death roll also surged to 54 and the recovery toll to 31.

Wall Street ended in the green, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq climbing by 6.38 percent, 6.24 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively.

Other Asian markets mirrored its US counterparts. Tokyo jumped by 3.88 percent, Shanghai inched up by 0.26 percent, Hong Kong grew by 0.35 percent, Seoul improved by 1.87 percent, Jakarta was up 3.69 percent, Singapore added 1.71 percent, Bangkok climbed by 1.9 percent, and Ho Chi Minh gained 0.52 percent.

In Manila, all sectors slipped, except for services, which climbed by 3 percent.

Total volume was at 696.58 million, valued at P7.95 billion.

Gainers led losers, 101 to 90, with 36 issues unchanged.