PSEi pulls back from record highs on profit taking

The Philippine Stock Exchange index on Wednesday pulled back from record highs as investors cashed in on gains from the ongoing bullrun. The market is “just taking a much-needed breather," said analyst Martin Santos of First Metro Securities Brokerage Corp. The PSEi shed 33.93 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 4,054.18. Over 3.522 billion shares valued at P6.093 billion changed hands. Investor optimism was still evident as advancers edged out decliners, 83 to 76 with 36 issues unchanged. Wednesday’s decline was led by property and holding firms counters, which fell by 1 percent and 0.88 percent, respectively. In the onslaught of profit taking early in the session, the benchmark index dropped to its intraday low of 4,020.15 before buyers came in “paring down losses," Santos said. Local investors searching for bargains trooped to the mining and oil counter and pushed the subsector up by 3.3 percent. —JE/VS, GMANews.TV