Profit taking drags down Phl stocks

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine stocks eased yesterday on profit taking.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slightly fell 0.05 percent or 3.15 points to close at 6,343.25, which is close to the intraday low of 6,324.24. The broader all share index eased 0.11 percent or 4.14 points to 3,864.86.

“Although buyers have surfaced in time to stave off a drop below 6,200 last week, lifting remains heavy as rallies are soon enough capped by profit-taking,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp.

Calaycay said local shares cheered signals of an extended easy money policy of the US Federal Reserve but resistance from sellers capped the advance and dragged the main index in the red. The PSEi hit an intraday high of 6,386.62 in the morning session.

All counters, save for holding firms that declined 1.19 percent or 69.24 points to 5,738.99, ended in positive territory. The gainers were led by financial companies that rose 0.6 percent or 9.16 points to 1,541.92.

Turnover value dropped to P6.53 billion from P6.85 billion on Friday. Decliners outpaced advancers, 74 to 61, while 50 stocks did not change.