Market ends week in negative territory

MANILA, Philippines — Local stocks fell yesterday to close the week in the red as investors decided to take profits at the last minute.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index dropped 0.36 percent or 25.12 points to close at 6,919.59, ending a brief two-day climb.

The All Shares index, on the other hand, managed to stay in the positive territory, eking out a 0.15-point improvement to 3,609.21.

Claire Alviar of Philstocks Financial said the local bourse dropped as investors took some gains at the last minute.

“The possibility that the inflation rate in February would be higher than in January weighed on sentiment,” she said.

Regina Capital’s Luis Limlingan said Philippine shares succumbed to profit taking after reaching the 7,000 level intraday.

Local counters were dominated by those in the red, led by services which dropped 0.74 percent.

Property and industrial, meanwhile, were in the positive territory as they closed higher by 1.21 percent and 0.16 percent, respectively.

Net market value turnover plunged to P4.3 billion from Thursday’s P11.68 billion.

Market breadth was positive as advancers edged out decliners, 109 to 78, while 49 shares did not change.

Century Pacific Foods was at the top among index members with a gain of 5.97 percent, while Aboitiz Equity Ventures lost the most at 5.28 percent.

Asian markets were largely higher yesterday following Wall Street gains driven by tech rallies and key US inflation data that met investors’ expectations.