Index struggles to stay above positive territory

MANILA, Philippines — The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) struggled to stay above the positive territory as optimism on coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID 19 vaccine faded, analysts said. 

The main composite index managed to rise by 26.11 points, or 0.47 percent, to settle at 5,581.96, while the broader All Shares index gained 11.65 points or 0.34 percent to end at 3,371.47.

Most indexes ended in positive zone except for the industrial and services. 

Total value turnover, however, was thin at P3.299 billion. Market breadth was negative with 88 losers and 84 gainers, while 40 issues were left unchanged.

Chris Mangun of AAA Securities said the PSEi tracked global equities markets which saw mixed results yesterday.

“US markets ended lower in last night’s trading session as optimism on the vaccine trials faded. Reports made by several vaccine experts concluded that there was not enough critical data to determine how effective the vaccine would be. In Asia, some markets crept higher while others declined as investors continue to assess the economic damage done by the pandemic. Here at the PSE, we saw the main index inch higher on extremely low trading volumes,” he said.

The PSEi generally reflected losses in markets in the US.

“It then traded sideways slightly above the 5,500 support level on extremely low trading volumes. More investors were on the sidelines as optimism on a recovery any time soon has faded,” Mangun said.