Cautious investors weigh down stocks

MANILA, Philippines — Investors decided to err on the side of caution ahead of the All Saints’ Day holiday and next week’s US presidential elections.

On the final trading day of October, the Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 1.89 percent or 137.28 points to end at 7,142.96.

The broader All Shares index likewise dropped by 0.99 percent or 39.37 points, finishing the session at 3,957.21.

Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said shares fell after trading in the green on Wednesday as caution lingered among investors ahead of the US presidential elections next week.

He said shares ended the last trading session in the red as investors absorbed a wave of earnings reports and waited additional results from other companies.

Net value turnover thinned to P4.97 billion from the previous day’s P5.12 billion.

Sectoral gauges were a mixed bag, but were mostly dominated by those in the red.

Financials and services took the biggest hit, declining by 2.71 percent and 2.43 percent, respectively.

Only the mining and oil as well as property sectors were in the positive territory, posting increases of 0.44 percent and 0.06 percent, respectively.

Advancers beat decliners, 97 to 88, while 56 issues were unchanged.

ICTSI was yesterday’s top traded company, plunging by 4.58 percent to P396 per share, followed by BDO with a 4.5-percent decline to P152.80.

Asian stocks were likewise mostly down following a weak lead from Wall Street, though a better-than-expected manufacturing data from China provided a glimmer of good news for Beijing.