PSEi snaps 4-day rally, succumbs to profit-taking

MANILA, Philippines — Local shares fell on Friday to cap the week in the red, as investors ended four straight days of stock-buying binge to pocket gains.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shaved off 85.29 points, or 1.27%, to finish at 6,633.22. The broader All Shares index was down 0.43% to 4,123.72.

All sub-indices were in the red, with holding firms finishing with the biggest loss after falling 1.63%. This was followed by the property (-1.27%), financials (-0.98%), industrial (-0.62%), mining and oil (-0.60%) and services (-0.49%) indices.

“The index snapped its rally this week after it closed lower today as driven by a rush of market-on-close selling,” Rastine Mercado, research director at China Bank Securities, said in an e-mailed market commentary.

“This move was expected as investors likely took profit following four straight days of gains,” Mercado added.

The local bourse’s slump reflected a bearish mood in the region, with fears over the fast-spreading Delta variant, the Federal Reserve's taper plans and China's ongoing regulatory crackdown taking the wind out of the sails of the global recovery rally.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong fell more than 1% again, with Beijing's drive to tighten its grip on the Chinese economy continuing to batter confidence and delivering a blow to market heavyweights Alibaba and Tencent.

Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Wellington and Mumbai also fell, though there were gains in Singapore, Bangkok and Jakarta.

Investors were unable to track small gains on the S&P and Nasdaq that were helped by data showing US jobless claims fell more than expected last week.

"The Delta variant of Covid is significantly more serious than anyone is really even pricing into the market," Hilary Kramer, of Kramer Capital Research, told Bloomberg TV. "We know that tapering is coming. We know that the market is getting tired."

At home, foreign investors sold P175.12 million more shares than they bought in the stock market. A total of 2.03 billion local shares, valued at P6.3 billion, switched hands on Friday. — with a report from AFP