Investors still on "wait and see" as PSEi settles below 5,200 points

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) slid back down by 31.18 points to below 5,200 for the first time since Monday to settle at 5,189.37 Thursday as investors stayed cautious as the market continues its correction.   The “lack of sizeable leads” may have prompted fund managers to be wary in trading, said Freya Natividad, head of research at F. Yap Securities Inc.   “Investors are holding their position and staying in the sidelines just watching the market,” Natividad noted.   Erico Claudio, market strategist at Penta Capital Investment Corp., observed that investors may just have been raking in profits, with foreign traders shifting funds away from the country.   The local bourse is merely in a “healthy correction” period, having reached an all-time high two weeks ago, strategist Manny Cruz of Asiasec Equities Inc. said.   Cruz said the light value turnover in today’s trading of nearly P4.7 billion is “part of the correction.”   "The selling pressure is not that strong given the light value turn-over,” he added. Volume turnover was 2.4 billion shares. Decliners led advancers 103 to 54, with 38 issues unchanged.   Natividad and Cruz both expect the market to rise again soon when the results of the second quarter corporate earnings are released end-July.   “The pullback will likely be used as a spring board for a run-up,” Cruz said. — ELR, GMA News