Lackluster trading erases index’s gains

MANILA, Philippines — The local stock market retracted into negative territory yesterday, leading the general downturn in other Asian equities, as lackluster trading prompted investors to take profits.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) erased the previous day’s gains and finished at 6,966.43, down 77.63 points or 1.10 percent, while the broader All Shares index slipped to 4,213.53, down 35.31 points or 0.83 percent.

Total value turnover reached P19.354 billion. Market breadth was negative, 145 to 82, while 45 issues were unchanged.

In a market commentary, AB Capital Securities said the index was unable to sustain trading above the 7,000 level due to lackluster trading.

It said net foreign selling resumed at P941 million, while value turnover was P6.6 billion, excluding cross transactions.

Chris Mangun of AAA Southeast Equities noted that blue chip bank stocks were down significantly despite the signing into law of the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) bill which will allow banks to easily dispose of bad assets through asset management companies.

He said large-cap property firms also took heavy losses, dragging the broad index lower.

Mangun said the market can’t seem to figure out whether it wants to go higher or lower.

“It continues to hover around the 7,000 level waiting for something to happen. This back and forth above and then below the key level may drive investors to the sidelines and play it safe.”

Around Asia, shares sank as investors sold to lock in profits from the recent rally, driven by hopes economies will gradually return to a pre-pandemic normal.

On Wall Street, indexes closed mostly lower Tuesday as losses in health care and technology companies kept gains in energy and other sectors of the market in check.

Rising bond yields, a sign of confidence in the economic outlook and expectations of rising inflation, are weighing on sentiment, analysts said.