Market flat after last-minute profit taking

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market finished flat despite breaching the 7,000-level during yesterday’s session as most gains were erased after investors succumbed to profit taking in the final minutes.

Still, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) managed to extend its winning streak to four as it inched up by 0.01 percent or 0.38 points to close at 6,984.63.

The broader All Shares index likewise posted a slight improvement of 0.22 percent or 8.25 points as it settled at 3,786.30.

“The benchmark index traded strongly above 7,000 for most of the session until it succumbed to sharp market-on-close selling that pushed the PSEi below its major resistance to end the day just a slight notch above yesterday’s close,” China Bank Capital Corp. managing director Juan Paolo Colet said.

Colet said value turnover exceeded P7 billion with net foreign buying at P760 million, indicating good market participation.

“However, the repeated failure to close above 7,000 should caution investors that there is a fairly high risk of a pullback from current levels,” he said.

Sectoral gauges were a mixed bag, with property leading the charge with a 1.88 percent surge.

Financials, on the other hand, took the biggest hit, falling by 1.7 percent.

Market breadth was positive as advancers toppled decliners, 111 to 82, while 65 issues were unchanged.

Converge ICT Solutions posted the largest gain among the index members at 5.31 percent, while Century Pacific Food had the biggest drop at 3.52 percent.

Asian markets mostly rose yesterday after a rally on Wall Street as traders try to assess the outlook for US interest rates following last week’s disappointing jobs report, with focus on the release of key inflation data.