MANILA, Philippines - The local benchmark index came back sluggish yesterday following a holiday as selling prevailed due to lack of positive leads.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell slightly by 0.11 percent or 7.65 points to 7,239.38, while the broader all shares index picked up 0.02 percent or 1.02 points to 4,278.11.
“The market ended flat, but on a downward bias due to lack of new positive leads. It was unable to get good news,” Papa Securities Inc. analyst Freya Natividad said.
Natividad said the local market likewise tracked the downtrend in the US market, where all three index at Wall Street ended on the negative territory.
The Nasdaq suffered the biggest blow as it declined 0.47 percent or 20.82 points while the S&P 500 and the Dow lost 0.16 percent and 0.10 percent, respectively.
Locally, counters were mixed, with industrial firms recording the biggest gain for the day at 0.53 percent or 60.94 points. Property firms, meanwhile, incurred the biggest decline of 1.02 percent or 28.73 points.
Investor participation surged as P12.68 billion worth of shares changed hands from P8.92 billion last Friday. Advancers beat decliners 98 to 70, while 52 stocks did not change.