Market back in red amid profit taking

PROFIT taking after Monday’s rally pulled the local bourse back to the 6,500 territory on Tuesday.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slipped by 0.94 percent, or 62.23 points to 6,545.55, while the broader All Shares declined by 0.56 percent, or 22.23 points to finish at 3,965.86.

Christopher Mangun, AAA Equities head of research, said traders took profits from the market’s climb on Monday.

“The losses were not because of panic selling as investors may have gained some optimism from the President’s announcement of cash stimulus and the removal of restrictions for the private sector to bring in their own supply of vaccines,” Mangun explained.

He noted, however, that general sentiment remains cautious amid the uncertainty on the extension of stricter quarantine measures. This also caused the market to trade lower than average at P4.34 billion. Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corp. managing director, meanwhile, attributed the market’s shed to early window dressing and investors keeping in cash ahead of the holidays.

Limlingan added that negative sentiment from the United States also spilled as Wall Street dipped overnight. S&P 500 and Nasdaq lost 0.09 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, while the Dow Jones gained 0.3 percent.

Only the industrials index survived among local sectors at 1.04 percent, while property lost the most at 2.09 percent. Total volume turnover was at 1.5 billion shares valued at P4.7 billion.

Decliners led advancers by one at 104 to 103, while 46 securities were unchanged.