Stocks lose strong early momentum but manage new all-time high close

October 17, 2017

The Philippine Stock Exchange index managed to close at a new  record high despite losing momentum after soaring in early trading on Tuesday. The index gained 49.80 points to end at 8,497.80. It was at a new intraday record of 8, 586.73. The index's old record was 8,497.74 on October 13. In a statement, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said the new all-time high came as US indices closed at record levels and on expectations that China’s third quarter GDP will be within target. Year-to-date, the PSEi has registered new record highs for a total of 10 times, the PSE said. “The record highs reached in yesterday’s US markets coupled with the liquidity generated from a recent tender offer and hopeful optimism on third quarter corporate earnings continue to generate upbeat sentiment among investors,” said PSE President and CEO Ramon Monzon. In the broader market, there were 121 decliners, 88 gainers and 42 issues unchanged. Volume reached 1.799 billion shares valued at P11.76 billion. Among most actively traded shares were Ayala Corp. up 1.96 percent to P1,092; SM Prime, up 2.19 percent to P37.30, GT Capital, up 2.46 percent to P1,250 and Macroasia, up 4.77 percent to P18. The peso closed at P51.33 against the US dollar from P51.39 on Friday. Volume at the Philippine Dealing System reached $ 893.20 million from $ 1.1 billion on Friday. DMS