Stocks decline on profit taking ahead of Q4 GDP

SHARES closed lower on Tuesday due to profit taking as investors await the release of the full-year 2022 gross domestic product (GDP) data this week.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) went down by 28.18 points or 0.39% to close at 7,041.50 on Tuesday, while the broader all shares index lost 4.77 points or 0.12% to end at 3,686.48.

“It’s down on profit taking as the market is still testing durability of 7,000 as the emerging market support given the strong rally from the year’s start,” First Metro Investment Corp. Head of Research Cristina S. Ulang said in a Viber message.

“The local bourse dropped by 28.18 points or 0.4% to 7,041.50 amid a lack of catalysts as investors await the Philippines’ economic growth for the full year that will be released this week,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Analyst Claire T. Alviar said in a Viber message.

Ms. Alviar said last-minute profit taking dragged the bourse lower.

“Despite the decline, the market was still able to hold its ground above the 7,000 level,” she said.

Philippine GDP likely grew by 6.8% in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the median forecast of 23 economists polled by BusinessWorld last week, slower than the 7.6% rise in the third quarter and the 7.8% print in the same period in 2021.

For the full year, the economy may have expanded by 7.5%, according to the median estimate of the economists, matching the high end of the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s 6.5%-7.5% target for 2022.

If realized, this would be faster than the 5.7% GDP growth in 2021 and may be the quickest since the 8.8% seen in 1976.

It would also mark the second straight year of growth after the record 9.5% contraction in 2020 due to the pandemic.

The fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 economic performance of the country will be released on Jan. 26.

The majority of sectoral indices closed lower on Tuesday except for industrials, which rose by 56.18 points or 0.56% to 9,937.34.

Meanwhile, holding firms lost 47.96 points or 0.69% to end at 6,837.64; mining and oil declined by 73.02 points or 0.62% to 11,651.85; financials declined by 7.42 points or 0.4% to 1,809.01; property went down by 8.99 points or 0.28% to 3,104.30; and services decreased by 4.45 points or 0.25% to 1,774.55.

Value turnover declined to PHP 5.4 billion on Tuesday with 1.96 billion shares changing hands from the PHP 8.35 billion with 1.24 billion issues traded on Monday.

Advancers beat decliners, 103 versus 89, while 48 names closed unchanged.

Net foreign selling was at PHP 361.58 million versus the PHP 421.79 million in net buying seen the previous trading day.

Philstocks Financial’s Ms. Alviar placed the PSEi’s support at 6,800 and resistance between 7,000 and 7,100. — Justine Irish D. Tabile