Stocks lower, peso gains

February 23, 2018

Stocks ended lower on Friday with the Philippine Stock Exchange index failing to stay above the 8,500 mark.

The index settled at 8,467.56 down 48.01 points. In the broader market, there were 122 decliners, 91 gainers and 39 shares unchanged.

Volume reached 3.26 billion shares valued at P9.24 billion from Thursday's 2.96 billion shares worth P10.46 billion.

Foreigners were net sellers for the fourth session, with selling at P4.22 billion compared to buying of P3.18 billion.

Most active shares were led by Now Telecom, up 4.39 percent to P15.70; MRC Allied Inc., 48.72 percent higher to 56 centavos;  Ayala Land, down 0.78 percent to P43.90 and PXP Energy Corp., 6.87 percent up to P17.12.

The peso closed at P51,89 against the US dollar from P52.10 on Thursday. Volume at the Philippine Dealing System reached $656.30 million from $668.40 million. DMS