PSEi drops to 6,800 level as investors pocket gains

Philippine shares dropped to the 6,800 level on Thursday, tracking Wall Street’s decline overnight, as investors continued to book profits before the month’s close.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell by 0.95% or 66.46 points to end at 6,891.55 on Thursday, while the broader all shares index dropped by 0.69% or 26.26 points to finish at 3,733.29.

This was the PSEi’s worst close in almost two weeks or since it finished at 6,889.87 on Aug. 19.

“The local bourse extended its decline amid continuous profit-taking after the market failed to break the 7,000 resistance,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Analyst Claire T. Alviar said in a Viber message.

“Negative cues from Wall Street further weighed on the market, affecting Asian peers as well,” she added.

Asian shares followed Wall Street futures lower on Thursday as Nvidia’s results disappointed some bullish investors, Reuters reported.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3% as tech stocks dragged. The Nikkei eased 0.2% while South Korea dropped 1%.

Nvidia’s third-quarter revenue forecast of USD 32.5 billion surpassed Wall Street estimates, but the results still failed to impress the most bullish investors, who have driven a dizzying rally in its shares.

Wall Street’s main indexes finished lower on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.39% to 41,091.42; the S&P 500 lost 0.6% to 5,592.18; and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.12% to 17,556.03.

“Philippine shares slipped just below the 6,900 level as investors sold ahead of the August closing and the MSCI rebalancing [on Friday],” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

“Sentiment also was pulled down from across the region, with US stocks dipping Wednesday, led by a decline in Nvidia Corp. as investors awaited its earnings report and the upcoming July personal consumption expenditures price index,” he added.

Majority of sectoral indices closed lower on Thursday. Holding firms retreated by 1.98% or 115.59 points to 5,717.44; financials dropped by 1.37% or 29.43 points to 2,104.28; services went down by 0.51% or 11.35 points to 2,201.47; and industrials declined by 0.1% or 10 points to 9,291.35.

Meanwhile, mining and oil climbed by 0.33% or 27.74 points to 8,263.42 and property increased by 0.13% or 3.72 points to 2,769.98.

“Among the index members, Ayala Land, Inc. led the gainers, up by 2.5%, while Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. was at the bottom, losing 4.29%,” Ms. Alviar said.

Value turnover increased to PHP 6.64 billion on Thursday with 959.59 million issues changing hands from the PHP 5.34 billion with 1.27 billion shares traded on Wednesday.

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 117 versus 79, while 51 names were unchanged.

Net foreign buying climbed to PHP 888.76 million on Thursday from PHP 687.06 million on Wednesday. — R.M.D. Ochave with Reuters