Stocks end nearly flat on lack of market catalysts

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed flat yesterday as investors continued to wait for market-moving catalysts.

Also, yesterday’s trading session failed to end the net foreign selling streak, now on its 37th day.

The bellwether PSEi finished at 7,151.52, up 10.27 points or 0.14 percent while the broader All Shares gauge lost 4,359.65, down 2.75 points or 0.06 percent.

The sector counters, meanwhile, were a mixed bag – with the industry, holding firms and services down in negative territory while the mining and oil and property indices finished in the green.

Total value turnover was thin, as foreign investors continued to dump shares. Advancing stocks outpaced decliners, 92 to 88, while 48 issues were unchanged.

Philstocks Financials said the index managed to stay above the 7,000 level due to good earnings anticipation report.

Foreign buying was at P2.86 billion while foreign selling was at P3.08 billion.

Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said Philippine shares traded slightly higher, though with very little value turnover once again, as the broader market was weaker on a multitude of reasons.

He noted that US stocks fell sharply on Thursday, adding to already steep losses for the month of October.

“US-China trade war, rising interest rates and lingering worries about possible overvalued U.S. tech stocks were all cited as reasons for the selloff. Stocks also fell as and as the Shanghai Composite dropped 2.9 percent to hit its lowest level since Nov. 14. European stocks ended in the red after spending most of the day trading higher as global stocks turn lower. Traders pointed to strength in a recent spate of earnings as one reason that stocks were tracking slightly higher earlier in the session,” he said.