PHILIPPINE SHARES fell to the 6,200 level again on Thursday despite trading higher for most of the session as investors booked last-minute profits.
The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSEi) index fell 1.02% or 64.94 points to end at 6,265.52, while the all-share index fell 0.08% or 3.02 points to 3,675.78.
This was the lowest closing for the PSEi in almost seven months or as it ended at 6,158.48 on June 21, 2024.
The index opened Thursday’s session higher than Wednesday’s close at 6,370.58. It rose to an intraday high of 6,419.26 but succumbed to late selling to end at its lowest level of the session.
“The market was in the green for most of the day, driven by positive news from Wall Street and the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas. However, investors became cautious towards the end of the session, which led to last-minute profit-taking that pushed the currency down,” said Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco in a Viber message.
“Philippine stocks made a complete reversal, closing at the 6,200 level despite trading in the green and reaching 6,400 at the beginning of the session,” said Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan in a Viber message.
U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, with all three major indexes registering their biggest daily gains in more than two months, as weaker-than-expected core inflation data for December and strong earnings from major U.S. banks fueled the rally, Reuters reported.
The Labor Department said the consumer price index rose the most in nine months as energy costs rose, although the measure of inflationary pressures eased.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 703.27 points or 1.65% to 43,221.55; the S&P 500 gained 107.00 points or 1.83% to 5,949.91; and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 466.84 points or 2.45% to 19,511.23.
Almost all industrial indexes were closed on Thursday. Financials fell by 1.69% or 36.43 points to 2,113.85; the commodity decreased by 1.10% or 26.04 points to 2,331.66; holding firms fell 0.65% or 34.5 points to 5,270.83; industrials fell 0.35% or 31.87 points to 8,916.97; and services were down 0.08% or 1.74 points to 2,089.12.
Meanwhile, mining and oil rose by 1.28% or 99.78 points to 7,886.01.
“ACEN Corp. was the day’s index leader, jumping 4.26% to P3.67. BDO Unibank, Inc. was low, down by 4.03% to P138.00,” said Mr. Tantiangco.
The stock rose to P6.19 billion on Thursday with 966.92 million shares exchanged from P5.44 billion and 592.49 million shares traded on Wednesday.
Developers had significantly fewer rejections, 104 compared to 96, while 40 releases were unchanged.
Total exports rose to P1.10 billion on Thursday from P540.58 million on Wednesday. – Revin Mikhael D. Ochave with Reuters
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