The local stock market’s winning momentum was cut short yesterday as investors decided to lock in gains following two consecutive days of increases.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined by 0.68 percent, or 41.34 points, ending the session at 6,057.40.
The broader All Shares index also slipped by 0.48 percent or 17.64 points to settle at 3,667.01.
‘The PSEi ended its two-day winning streak as profit taking weighed on the market early in the session,’ Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said.
AP Securities, for its part, said the market tracked lower after the peso breached 58 to $1 following the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ surprise move to cut rates by another 25 basis points to support the domestic economy.
Local counters were mixed, with mining and oil leading the gains with a 2.80-percent surge, while financials registered the biggest loss at 1.66 percent.
Total value turnover was almost similar to the previous day’s output at P6.5 billion.
Market breadth, however, turned negative as decliners squashed advancers, 135 to 72, while 55 issues were unchanged.
BDO emerged as the session’s top traded stock, shedding 2.57 percent to P136.40 per share, followed by ICTSI, which declined by 0.38 percent to P526, while Philex Mining rose by 3.17 percent to P10.42.
Among index members, AREIT saw the highest jump at 7.49 percent to P45.20, while Puregold lost the most, falling by 6.11 percent to P39.95.