PSE Index Fails To Stave Off Profit-Taking, Ends Day Down

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index fell again Wednesday as profit-taking activities resumed, leaving only the industrial sub-index with a gain of 0.14%.

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

The PSE index closed at 6,900.62 points, down by 44.14 points or 0.64%, erasing more than 83 points from its highest price point and closing at its lowest as investors cashed in their gains.

The index initially opened higher than Wednesday's close, reaching 6,983.81 points before succumbing to profit-taking.

This dragged down several sectors: financials declined by 1.09%, holding firms lost 0.20%, services were down by 0.23%, mining and oil dropped by 0.91%, and property fell by 1.53%. Blue-chip stocks showed gains until midway through trading, when the sell-down began.

Market bellwether SM Investments saw its share price fluctuate between a high of P940 and a low of P927 before closing at P932, up by P2.

ICTSI, the most active stock with trades amounting to P748 million, experienced a high of P419 and a low of P407 before closing P1 lower at P411.

BDO Unibank ended at P148.50, down by P4.30 after a volatile session that saw prices range from P153.20 to P148. Ayala Land rose to P34.30 before closing at P33.20, its lowest, for a loss of P1.15.

Value turnover was P1 billion below average at P5.13 billion, with foreign trades accounting for P4.41 billion.

Net foreign buying continued at P441 million, with foreign buying at P2.488 billion against foreign selling of P1.923 billion. The market saw 78 gainers, 130 losers, and 49 unchanged shares.

Among the gainers were Metrobank, Aboitiz Power, DigiPlus, Boulevard Holdings, China Bank, First Gen, Meralco, Manila Water, Petron, Cosco Capital, PhilWeb, Wilcon Depot, Semirara Mining, Synergy Grid, SPNEC, Jollibee Foods, Steniel, Abacore, Alliance Global, Cebu Landmasters, Citicore RE, Megaworld, Nickel Asia, Bloomberry, MacroAsia, GMA-7, ABS-CBN, Megaworld, Vitarich, and Union Bank.

The losers included SM Prime, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Universal Robina, PNB, Security Bank, ACEN Corp., Philippine Stock Exchange, Alernergy, Basic Energy, Citicore RE, and Shell Pilipinas.

Axelum, AgriNurture, Century Pacific Food, Aboitiz Equity, DoubleDragon, Megawide, Emperador, Ginebra, Greenergy, GT Capital, JG Summit, Belle Corp., Globe Telecom, PLDT, Converge, Dito CME, Cebu Air, Puregold, and Phil Seven also suffered declines.

Meanwhile, unchanged stocks were Figaro Coffee, Monde Nissin, Roxas and Co., Cemex Holdings, DMC Holdings, Robinsons Retail, and Haus Talk.