PH Stocks Take a Breather as Investors Lock in Gains

Manila—(PHStocks)—Philippine stocks ended their rally Thursday as investors lock in their gains. The mainboard Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) opened at 6,320.74, up 0.79% (9:30am), and went on to 6,323.7 after 10 minutes of trading. It went on to reach an intraday peak of 6,332.27 as the government announced a 6.8% GDP (gross domestic product) growth for the fourth quarter of 2012. The index then went on to close at 6,242.74 – down 0.45% from yesterday’s 6,271.23 – as profit-taking ensued.

All counters except for the Industrials and Holding Firms segments retreated. The Industrials sector gained 0.5% while the Holding Firms segment pulled in 0.79%. The Financials and Services indices suffered the greatest declines, sliding by 2.05% and 1.72%, respectively.

Turnover for the day reached PhP12.44 billion on 2.8 billion of traded shares. There were 62 advancers and 106 losers, while 44 stocks were flat.

Below are the top gainers for the last trading day of January:

• Highlands Prime Inc. (PSE: HP): PhP1.98, +13.79%
• Roxas Holdings Inc. (PSE: ROX): PhP3.15, +10.53%
• Prime Media Holdings Inc. (PSE: PRIM): PhP2.16, +10.2%
• Swift Foods Inc. – Convertible Preferred (PSE: SFIP): PhP1.47, +8.09%
• Philippine Seven Corporation (PSE: SEVN): PhP100, +7.53%
• United Paragon Mining Corporation (PSE: UPM): PhP0.018, +5.88%
• San Miguel Corporation (PSE: SMC): PhP112, +5.76%
• Marcventures Holdings Inc. (PSE: MARC): PhP2.03, +5.73%
• Manchester International Holdings Unlimited Corp. “A” (PSE: MIH): PhP13.94, +5.45%
• Greenergy Holdings Incorporated (PSE: GREEN): PhP0.02, +5.26%

Below are the top decliners:

• Yehey! Corporation (PSE: YEHEY): PhP1.35, -10%
• Globe Telecom Inc. (PSE: GLO): PhP1,074, -7.41%
• Bank of the Philippine Islands (PSE: BPI): PhP100, -5.66%
• Republic Glass Holdings Corporation (PSE: REG): PhP2.60, -5.45%
• 2GO Group Inc. (PSE: 2GO): PhP1.90, -5%
• Zeus Holdings Inc. (PSE: ZHI): PhP0.60, -4.76%
• Phinma Corporation (PSE: PHN): PhP12.02, -4.6%
• The Philodrill Corporation (PSE: OV): PhP0.042, -4.55%
• Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corporation “A” (PSE: OPM): PhP0.021, -4.55%
• Filinvest Land Inc. (PSE: FLI): PhP1.74, -4.4%