PSEi pares gains after bulls repelled at 7,100 level

The Philippine benchmark index’s (PSEi) push to surpass 7,100 was thwarted by late-session profit-taking, leaving the bulls to retreat with minimal gains by the close.

From gains of nearly 1.8 percent to 7,109.75, the PSEi finished at 6,984.63, gaining just 0.01 percent for the session.

“The benchmark index traded strongly above 7,000 for most of the session until it succumbed to sharp market-on-close selling that pushed the PSEi below its major resistance to end the day just a slight notch above yesterday’s close,” Juan Paolo Colet, managing director at leading investment bank China Bank Capital Corp., said on Tuesday.

Juan Paolo Colet

China Bank Capital Managing Director 

Large cap movements were driven by BDO Unibank Inc. (-2.82 percent), International Container Terminal Services Inc. (+1.24 percent), Ayala Land Inc. (-0.70 percent), SM Investments Corp. (-1.30 percent), and Universal Robina Corp. (+1.43 percent).

Despite heavy selling, Colet observed a jump in daily turnover to P7 billion and a sharp increase in activity from foreign investors, who made net purchases of P760 million.

Nevertheless, he warned that the intraday pullback below 7,000 underscored challenges in breaking through a key resistance level.

“[T]he repeated failure to close above 7,000 should caution investors that there is a fairly high risk of a pullback from current levels,” Colet said.