MANILA, Philippines — Stocks retreated for a third session yesterday, ending the week in the red as investors took profit from recent gains, traders said.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi closed at 6,851.38, down 36.54 points or 0.53 percent, while the broader All Shares index slipped 18.06 points or 0.43 percent to end at 4,166.90.
Total value turnover reached P9.8 billion. Market breadth was negative, 106 to 98, while 106 issues were unchanged.
“The local market ended the week in the red as the market saw a pullback after rallying for three straight weeks. Catalysts for this week’s decline were the US Fed’s hawkish statement and the IMF’s downgrade of the country’s growth forecast,” said AB Capital Securities in a market commentary.
It noted that net foreign selling for the session was significant with P857 million. For the week, foreigners were net sellers with P182 million excluding block sales, snapping two-straight weeks of net foreign buying.
The US Federal Reserve hinted of tighter monetary settings as the recovery of the economy from the pandemic accelerated.
Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said that while the index hit a new one-week low, it was still among three-month highs or since March 8, 2021 when NCR Plus was put under stricter quarantine.
Moving forward, he said investors would keep a close watch on the arrival of more vaccines against COVID-19.
“The expected increase in COVID-19 vaccine arrivals especially in the third quarter 2021 and the fourth quarter 2021 that would help further reduce new COVID-19 cases and, in turn, would justify further re-opening of the economy and eventually help improve economic recovery prospects and investment valuations, going forward,” Ricafort said.