Index ends almost flat after volatile trading

MANILA, Philippines — The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended almost flat yesterday after volatile trading, closing 1.45 points, or 0.01 percent higher at 7,524.37.

On the other hand, the broader All Shares gauge shed 0.83 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 4,506.50.

The rest of the counters were mixed with the mining and oil, property and holding firms in the red. On the other hand, the industrial and the services indices finished in positive territory.

Commenting on yesterday’s trading session, Arbee Lu, head of Online Trading at Papa Securities, said the PSEi wavered between gains and losses throughout the day, ending flat at 7,524.37.

Yesterday’s gainers were led by Meralco, which was up four percent; JG Summit, which gained 2.4 percent and ICTSI which went up 2.3 percent.

On the other hand, the biggest losers were DMCI Holdings (-3.7 percent), San Miguel Corp. (-3.4 percent) and Petron Corp. (-2.2 percent).

Foreigners, meanwhile, were net sellers as they  registered a net foreign outflow of P691 million.

Moving forward, Lu said “so far, the PSEi’s upward trajectory has managed to stay intact as we continue to stay above immediate support.

“We’re still on our way to test resistance at 7,617 as long as we don’t see a breach below 7,330. If this continues to improve, we may be able to look forward to a yearend rally,” she said.