Index falls below 7,000 as market consolidates

MANILA, Philippines — Stocks failed to gain momentum and succumbed to losses for a second day, slipping below the 7,000-barrier at the close of trading yesterday.

The 30-company benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) went down by 54.38 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 6,969.88 while the broader All Shares index declined 19.25 points or 0.46 percent to end at 4,083.55.

Trading was suspended Thursday in the aftermath of the damage caused by Typhoon Ulysses.

A total of  P10.772 billion worth of shares changed hands, with more advancers than decliners, 119 to 85, while 54 issues were unchanged.

Traders said investors are digesting third quarter corporate results which have been pouring in the past days. Generally, many companies reported income improvements compared to their second quarter performance.

However, in most cases, the improvements were not enough to pull up nine-month numbers. Nevertheless, many listed companies are seeing recovery continuing in the remainder of the year and even so next year with the prospects of a COVID-19 vaccine out in the market soon.

Michael Ricafort of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. said the local stocks are still in their 8.5-month highs, and up by 4.2 percent week-on-week.

“Positive developments recently on COVID-19 vaccines such as Moderna also supported market sentiment, including the peso,” he said.

Moving forward, traders said the market would continue to watch out for the progress of the COVID-19 vaccine as well as the reduction in cases in the country and across the globe.