Profit taking dictates anew market direction

MANILA, Philippines - Profit taking again dictated the movement of the benchmark index, bucking the uptick in regional and global markets.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 0.28 percent or 19.25 points to finish at 6,811.33, reversing early gains that allowed the benchmark index to hit an intraday high of 6,843.14. The broader all shares index lost 0.25 percent or 10.09 points to close at 4,063.63.

“The correction was mainly on the back of profit-taking. We’ve been rising in the past sev- eral days,” said Lexter Azurin, research head of brokerage firm Unicapital Securities Inc. “Investors are just taking advantage of all the gains that we’ve had during the previous run- ups,” Azurin said, adding that investors have already discounted recent positive news. Asian stocks welcomed news on the improv- ing factory sector in China while export-oriented Japan benefited from the weaker yen. Wall Street climbed anew, driven by small-cap stocks and reports of a recovery in existing home sales in April. The Dow Jones industrial average inched up 0.06 percent or 10.02 points 16,543.08, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.24 percent or 4.46 points to 1,892.49.

At home, most counters were in the red, paced by the property sector that dropped 0.72 percent or 19.63 points to 2,697.26. But financial firms bucked the trend as it added 0.18 percent or 2.84 points to 1,603.27.

Investor participation slipped a new toP7.67 billion from P8.86 billion on Thursday. Decliners outpaced advancers, 113 to 49, while 51 stocks did not change.