The stock market slipped Wednesday on profit taking, a day after the Philippine Stock Exchange Index soared to a record high.
The PSEi fell 3.43 points, or 0.04 percent, to 8,920.29 on a value turnover of P6.5 billion. Gainers edged losers, 105 to 104, with 53 issues unchanged.
JG Summit Holdings Inc. of industrialist John Gokongwei dropped 2.4 percent to P79.10, while major property developer Ayala Land Inc. declined 1.6 percent to P45.65.
Bank of the Philippine Islands, the third-biggest lender in terms of assets, rose 3.8 percent to P119.50, while Manila Electric Co., the largest retailer of electricity, surged 1.8 percent to P334.
The rally across Asia that welcomed in 2018 looked to have run out of steam on Wednesday with most markets slipping into the red on profit-taking, but Hong Kong rose a twelfth day as energy shares climbed.
Strong economic fundamentals and corporate earnings as well as optimism about the impact of Donald Trump’s massive US tax cuts have helped fuel a global advance to record or multi-year highs.
However, some analysts say the surge has also been propelled by a fear of missing out, and with the next round of company reports about to kick off traders are taking a breather before making their next moves.
“You have to ask yourself what has changed really in these first six trading days of 2018, which has so materially driven prices higher?” asked Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.
“For me, the rally is starting to feed on itself, or people’s fear of not participating in the upside, despite the fact that I also believe the global growth outlook and the impact of US tax cuts is a positive.”
Tokyo ended 0.3 percent down, Sydney shed 0.6 percent, while Singapore gave up 0.2 percent and Seoul lost 0.4 percent. Wellington and Taipei each sank 0.8 percent.
However, Hong Kong continued its outstanding run by rising 0.5 percent in the afternoon—a twelfth successive gain—while Shanghai finished up 0.2 percent, a ninth straight advance.
Jonathan Slone, chief executive officer of CLSA, told Bloomberg TV that traders were in for some nail-biting months. “Markets will be higher at the end of next year than they are right now, in my opinion, but it’s going to be a little volatile getting there,” he said.
Despite the losses on broader markets, energy firms stood out as oil pushed higher.
Crude has more than doubled from its lows below $30 back in early 2016, supported by an output freeze deal between OPEC and Russia and, recently, tensions in the oil-rich Middle East.
Market-watchers say unrest in key producer Iran could dent the country’s capacity, while others point out that any suppression of protests by Tehran could also lead Trump to reimpose export sanctions.
Both main oil contracts jumped more than one percent on Tuesday, also helped by data showing a huge drop in US stockpiles as a big freeze in the northeast fans demand for heating fuel. With AFP
