Last-minute profit-taking send shares in red zone

MANILA, Philippines —  Last-minute profit-taking sent stocks lower yesterday, spoiling what could have been a back-to-back win for the local market.

Despite trading mostly in the green and hitting 6,400 earlier in the session, the Philippine Stock Exchange index ended in the negative territory, shedding 1.03 percent or 64.94 points to settle at 6,265.52.

The broader All Shares index also slipped by 0.08 percent or 3.02 points to close at 3,675.78.

“The market was in the green territory for the most part of the day, driven by positive spillovers from Wall Street and the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas,” Philstocks Financial research manager Japhet Tantiangco said.

“However, investors turned cautious toward the end of the session, leading to a last-minute profit-taking, which brought the bourse down,” he said.

Tantiangco said that net foreign selling worth P1.1 billion also contributed to the session’s decline.

Net value turnover saw a slight improvement to P5.8 billion from the previous day’s P4.5 billion.

All counters were in the red, except for mining and oil which climbed by 1.28 percent.

Financials took the biggest hit, plunging by 1.69 percent, followed by property which fell by 1.10 percent.

Advancers finally emerged victorious against decliners for the first time this week, 104 to 96, while 40 issues were unchanged.

Synergy Grid & Development Phils. Inc. was the most actively traded company, surging by 8.87 percent to P13.50 per share, followed by BDO which dropped by 4.03 percent to P138.