Q3 jitters put PSEi in the red

The local bourse started the trading week in the red as anxious traders waited on the sidelines for new corporate earnings reports.

By the closing bell, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) ended flat as it shed 0.12 percent, or 9.1 points, to 7,406.63.

Meanwhile, the broader All Shares Index was slightly down by 0.03 percent, or 1.23 points, to close at 4,080.29.

Trading volume was tepid at P2.89 billion for 638.33 million shares, or lower than the year-to-date average of P2.89 billion, data from Philstocks Financial Inc. show.

Japhet Tantiangco, Philstocks senior analyst, said investors “took a cautious stance while waiting for new positive catalysts, primarily the corporate sector’s [third quarter] corporate results.”

Of the blue-chip companies, only Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has reported its net income in the first nine months of the year.

Analysts have said that banks are expected to report record earnings this year, especially since the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has cut the benchmark interest rate of banks twice so far, for a total of 50 basis points to 6 percent.

Sy family-led BDO Unibank Inc. was the top-traded stock as it gained by 0.61 percent to P165 each.

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It was followed by BPI, down 0.42 percent to P142.50; International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 0.15 percent to P408.40; Ayala Corp., down 0.7 percent to P714; and Manila Water Co. Inc., down 1.32 percent to P26.25 per share.

Other actively traded stocks were SM Investments Corp., which was flat at P962; Semirara Mining and Power Corp., down 0.87 percent to P34.10; OceanaGold Philippines Inc., up 3.87 percent to P16.10; Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., up 0.25 percent to P80.50; and SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 0.31 percent to P32 each.

Losers outnumbered gainers, 113 to 104, while 53 companies closed unchanged, stock exchange data showed.