Index succumbs to selling pressure

The stock market succumbed to regional weakness on Friday, putting a halt to its fiveday ascent.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index fell 0.83 percent or 56.81 percent to slip below the 6,800 level at 6,792.06.

The broader All Shares index also declined 0.55 percent or 21.74 points to finish at 3,917.29.

Analysts said investors continue to be cautious given the continued volatility in oil prices as well as the projected global economic slowdown.

“The recovery during the last seven trading days had been met with minimal correction so expect more volatile intraday as index approaches resistance,” Regina Capital Development Corp. managing director Luis Limlingan said.

Following a convincing break above weekly resistance on Thursday, Limlingan said selling pressure was expected to start surfacing with the next resistance pegged at 6,900.

“Note that the last two resistance tests had been unsuccessful so we advise exercising caution by taking profits on trading positions,” he said.

All local counters closed in negative territory, except for industrial firms which eked out a 0.17 percent gain.

Property firms and services companies suffered the biggest blow by the trading day’s end, losing 1.34 percent and 1.16 percent, respectively.