Profit-taking drags down market by 3 points

Stocks reclaimed their gains on Tuesday and slid back in to negative terrain, although packets of window-dressing in select blue chips helped cushion the fall almost on a sideways drift.

The main index narrowed by 3.48 points or 0.24 percent to 1,464.34 yesterday as the market euphoria over the explosive testimony of a top bank executive in President Estrada’s impeachment trial and pent-up demand for stocks due to the Christmas holidays subsided.

The broader All-Shares index, meanwhile, continued its ascent, gaining 20.50 points or 2.65 percent to 794.61 on the back of the strong surge in shares of Canadian insurer’s Manulife and Sun Life and local bank China Banking Corp.

Similarly at the Philippine Dealing System, the local currency weakened once more against the dollar, averaging P49.721 by midday from Tuesday’s closing rate of P49.42.

There are, however, more advancers at 36 as against 25 decliners with 36 more left unchanged as the property and banking and finance counters posted slight gains.

"The commercial-industrial, along with the oil and mining sectors, retreated as dominant carrier and index heavyweight PLDT lost P20 to P830.

The telecom giant has added Maranao Telephone Co., which holds the franchise to operate in Lanao del Norte and Iligan City in its list of acquisitions taking in 98.77 percent of the company’s capital stock. A total of 2,607 million shares were involved at a purchase price of P178.59 per share amounting to a total of P178.07 million.

EDSA Properties Holdings Inc. (EPHI) was the day’s most active issue with nearly 13 percent of total deals. Its shares remained at P1.70 each after another cross transaction representing the share swap with Kuok Philippine Properties Inc., a stockholder owning five percent of the company, in exchange for the latter’s 23.62-percent equity in KSA Realty Corp., one of the owner-developers of the Enterprise Center along Ayala Avenue.

Among the advancing stocks were property giants Ayala Land and SM Prime, both adding 10 centavos to P5.40 and P5.80, respectively.

In banking and finance, Manulife ballooned by P105 to P1,455 while its Canadian colleague Sun Life gained P20 to P1,180. China Bank, another top gainer for the day, rose P90 to P750.

Meanwhile, the block sale of P1.206-billion worth of Chinatrust Commercial Bank shares was effected yesterday with ING Baring doing the cross. A total of 63.526 million common shares held by various stockholders were sold to parent firm Chinatrust Commercial Bank of Taiwan at P19 each, with the buyer intending to make a tender offer to the remaining stockholders. CHTR shares at the market ended 50 centavos, lower to P18 yesterday.