Index slips as market continues to consolidate

MANILA, Philippines - The local bourse continued to consolidate yesterday while regional and global markets pulled back anew.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 0.26 percent or 17.42 points to close at 6,748.51, marking its second straight day in the red, while the broader all shares index slipped 0.27 percent or 11.07 points to 4,065.23.

Following several days of run-up, the bellwether index encountered the strong resistance level of 6,800, with investors opting to book profits.

Markets abroad were not able to provide buying leads, with Wall Street broadly retreating on Tuesday, dragged by the financial and technology stocks.’

The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 0.78 percent or 129.53 points  to 16,401.02, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index eased 0.9 percent or 16.94 points to close at 1,867.72.

Closer to home, Asian shares faltered given deadly separatist uprising in Ukraine, which might fall into a civil war. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slumped 2.93 percent or 424.06 points to 14,033.45 while other markets were also in the red.

Locally, most counters were in negative territory, paced by property firms that dropped 0.55 percent or 14.81 points to 2,657.57. But mining and oil bucked the trend as it rallied 2.52 percent or 409.07 points to 16,622.34, driven by Marcventures Holdings Inc. (+12.21 percent) and Nickel Asia Corp. (+3.3 percent).

Investor participation improved as value turnover hit P7.14 billion, up from P5.36 billion on Tuesday. Advancers outpaced decliners, 95 to 87, while 37 stocks did not change.