PSE Index Down On Profit-Taking

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index declined Tuesday on profit-taking, closing at 6,633.66 points, down by 49.12 points or 0.74 percent, though it briefly surpassed the 6,700-point level, which remained elusive.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, May 21, 2024

Only the services sub-index posted a gain, as the market fluctuated between a low of 6,614.51 points and a high of 6,704.14 points. Market bellwether SM Investments went down by 1.49 percent to P862, while new IPO OceanaGold rose by 8.74 percent to P14.18, up from its IPO price.

Bank stocks retreated, with BDO Unibank losing 1.43 percent to P138.

Financials lost 1.09 percent, holding firms went down by 1.09 percent, industrials by 0.53 percent, and mining and oil and property sectors were down by 0.54 percent and 1.28 percent, respectively.

Value turnover amounted to P9.79 billion, 50 percent above average, as the significant decline in blue-chip share prices created opportunities for bargain hunting.

Foreign buying reached P4.299 billion, while foreign selling amounted to P4.37 billion, resulting in net foreign selling of P70.5 million. There were 86 gainers, 99 losers, and 48 unchanged shares.

Among the gainers were ICTSI, the top-traded stock, which hit a new high of P347, up by 2.24 percent with trades amounting to P571 million.

Other gainers included ACEN Corp, Bloomberry, Petron, Manila Water, Axelum, Figaro Coffee, San Miguel CREIT, MREIT, ABS-CBN, Aboitiz Equity, PAL, Cebu Air, Converge, and Atlas.

Shares that remained unchanged were Meralco, Jollibee Foods, ABA Ore, and Nickel Asia.

The losers included Security Bank, Alternergy, Aboitiz Power, Apex, Puregold, Belle Corp, DigiPlus, Globe Telecom, PLDT, SM Prime, Ayala Land, Metrobank, GMA-7, Monde Nissin, Universal Robina, SPNEC, and Emperador.