PSEi snaps out of rally as investors take profits

Philippine stocks ended their five-day rally on Monday as investors booked profits and took a cautious stance ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) policy meeting on Feb. 15.

The main Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) fell by 0.61% or 42.34 points to close at 6,807.82. The broader all-share index shed 0.22% or 8.15 points to 3,566.06.

“Investors took some gains following five consecutive days of market rally,” Claire T. Alviar, a research analyst at Philstocks Financial, Inc., said in a Viber message. “Many investors were also cautious while waiting for the BSP’s policy meeting this week.”

At its December meeting, BSP kept the benchmark rate steady at a 16-year high of 6.5%. This was after the Monetary Board tightened rates by 450 basis points from May 2022 to October 2023 to tame inflation.

The local bourse retreated as investors awaited Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) rebalancing results, Luis A. Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corp., said in a Viber message.

“Investors took profit as many will be awaiting the latest results from the MSCI rebalancing and some key economic data in the United States this week,” he said.

The US will release inflation data on Feb. 13 that could determine the direction of policy rates for the rest of the year, he added.

Almost all of the market’s sectoral indexes fell on Monday, except for services, which gained 0.42% or 7.31 points to 1,720.84.

Property fell by 1.29% or 38.42 points to 2,931.37, while industrials declined by 1.06% or 97.93 points to 9,092.86. Mining and oil shed 0.77% or 69.49 points to 8,918.89, while holding firms lost 0.51% or 33.14 points to 6,388.20. The financial index lost 0.46% or 9.13 points to 1,955.80.

“Among the index members, GT Capital Holdings, Inc. was at the top, increasing by 2.81%, while ACEN Corp. lost the most by 3.20%,” Ms. Alviar said.

Value turnover fell to PHP 4.19 billion with 510.17 million issues switching hands compared with 535.76 million issues worth PHP 6.89 billion on Thursday.

Decliners beat advancers 106 to 81, while 51 shares were unchanged. Net foreign buying declined to PHP 455.58 million from PHP 953.68 million on Thursday. – Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, Reporter