External factors snap index’s 4-day rise

MANILA, Philippines - The tug of war between positive local news and external dampeners snapped the four-day climb of the main index.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index barely changed, slightly dropping 0.01 percent or 0.53 point to 6,765.93, while the broader all shares index rose 0.11 percent or 4.67 points to 4,076.30.

Justino B. Calaycay Jr., an analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp., said the benchmark index opened in the red, then swung between thin gains and losses in post noon trades.

“These movements are manifestations of investors trying to strike a balance between fears over external risks on one hand and the commencement of the first quarter 2014 earnings season on the other,” Calaycay said.

Wall Street closed higher on Monday given the strength of the service sector. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.11 percent or 17.66 points to 16,530.55, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.19 percent or 3.52 points to 1,884.66.

Asian markets were mixed yesterday as some stock markets were on holiday.

Locally, almost all counters were in the green, led by mining and oil that added one percent or 160.05 points to 16,213.27. But holding firms fell 0.29 percent or 18.11 points to 6,148.11.

The value of shares traded reached P5.36 billion, up from P4.8 billion on Monday. Advancers outplayed decliners, 84 to 78, while 57 stocks did not change.

Most active firms were in the positive territory, led by top-traded and newly-listed Century Pacific Food Inc. that rallied 10.63 percent. Index heavyweight PLDT (+0.07 percent) and Ayala Land Inc. (+0.49 percent) gained yesterday but BDO Unibank Inc. (-0.34 percent) and Security Bank Corp. (-0.16 percent) posted losses.