Profit-taking weighs on PHL stocks; PSEi down 0.74% in morning trade

Philippine shares succumbed to profit-taking Friday morning, as investors opted to sell in the absence of fresh catalyst after the US Federal Reserve hinted at the possibility of reducing its bond buying program.

 

"The decline is expected as there's no catalyst" to drive the market, Claire Quiray of brokerage Regina Capital told GMA News Online.

 

The main PSEi dropped 54.19 points or 0.74 percent to 7,260.19 at the noon recess. The broader all-shares index shed 20.92 points or 0.47 percent to 4,464.50. More than 404 million shares valued at P3.23 billion were traded. 

 

Except for mining and oil, all sub-indices were in the red led by Industrial.

 

Nieves Securities Inc. analyst Miko Sayo said the "market is in profit-taking mode now."

 

In a text message to GMA News Online, Jonathan Ravelas, market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc., said, "Bernanke's statements in US Congress spooked the markets as improvements in the US economy could scale back Fed's asset purchases. This caused global financials to fall and currencies to weaken against the greenback. — VS, GMA News