PSEi ends year lower on late profit taking

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market closed the year on a sour note, finishing in the red ahead of a long new year break.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index was trekking upward throughout most of Friday’s session before succumbing to late profit taking to settle 0.34 percent or 27.02 points lower at 7,815.26.

The broader All Shares index, on the other hand, managed to stay in the positive territory as it climbed 0.13 percent or 6.47 points to close at 4,649.67.

“Philippine equities traded lower in its last trading session for 2019, driven in part by window dressing, investors wanting to remain on the sideline while market is closed for five days, and flows into the other regional markets,” Regina Capital’s Luis Limlingan said.  

Only two sectors saw a decline in yesterday’s session, while the rest made gains.

Holding firms dropped 0.80 percent and property index slipped 0.07 percent.

Mining and oil index was again the biggest gainer for the second consecutive session, this time adding 0.80 percent, followed by services which grew 0.20 percent.

Value turnover expanded to P6.60 billion from the previous day’s P3.60 billion.

Market breadth remained positive as advancers again pummeled decliners, 104 to 86, while 43 stocks were unchanged.

Trading will resume on Thursday next week. The market will be closed on Monday (Rizal Day), Tuesday (last day of the year), and Wednesday (New Year’s Day), all of which were declared regular holidays and special days for the year.