Index ends flat as investors turn cautious

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine stock market finished flat yesterday as market investors remained cautious again because of the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, Europe and in most parts of the world.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Composite index finished at 6,491.19, up 7.13 points or 0.11 percent.

On the other hand, the broader All Shares index slipped 0.59 poitns or 0.01 percent to finish at 3,859.36.

The other gauges were mixed with the financial, industrial and mining and oil sectors finishing in the red.

Total value turnover was huge because of the initial public offering of Converge ICT, which however, saw its market share slump on trading day.

Market breadth was negative, 107 to 102 while 44 issues were unchanged.

Converge saw its share price tumble by as much as 11.2 percent on the first hour of trading to P14.92 per share before closing at P15.22 percent, down 9.4 percent from its IPO price of P16.8 per share.

“The stock was overvalued at its IPO price,” said Japhet Tantiangco, an analyst at PhilStocks Financial Inc.

The company was valued at about 48 times the estimated earnings for 2020, and 34 times what was estimated for 2021.

He said the price may decline further as its fair value should be at about P12.84 per share.