The Philippine Stock Exchange Index ended down on Thursday, dragged down by all sectors retreating over disappointing second quarter gross domestic product numbers.

 

The main PSEi closed at 5,149.31 down 0.89 percent or 46.41 points. Losers led winners 103 over 48, with 46 issues unchanged.

 

Over 1.6 billion shares were traded at P4.2 billion.

 

In intra-day trading, “the market was down ahead of the (GDP results)” but “decline accelerated as investors had more time to digest (the news),” Mark Angeles, head of research at First Metro Securities Brokerage Corp. (FMSBC), said in a text message.

 

Although he believes the second quarter result was strong at 5.9 percent, “we were expecting a higher figure given that it is coming from a low base (of 3.6 percent in the second quarter last year),” Angeles noted.

 

As for investor expectations regarding the GDP, Angeles said Bloomberg had forecast 5.5 percent, while FMSBC was expecting above six percent.

 

The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said Thursday the economy grew a better-than-forecast 5.9 percent in the second quarter, largely due to a strong services sector.

 

The 5.9 percent was well within market forecast of 5.3 percent, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said during a press conference at the NSCB office in Makati City. — DVM, GMA News