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The Philippine stock market gave up early gains to end lower as nervous investors were quick to take profits.
The main index lost 43.14 points or 0.65 percent to close at 6,556.20 although sectoral indices were evenly mixed. Volume jumped to 1.74 billion shares worth P21.18 billion as gainers still outnumbered losers 117 to 80 with 40 unchanged.
“The local equities continued to dampen as we close the last trading day for the month amid the releases of the corporate earnings,” said Regina Capital Development Corporation Managing Director Luis Limlingan.
He noted that, “The MSCI rebalancing resulted in a bloodbath, and the index is now nearing its 100-day moving average.”
Philstocks Financial Assistant Research Manager Claire Alviar said “The local bourse declined further this Tuesday due to last-minute profit taking, amid the MSCI Rebalancing. During the early part of the trading session, the market was in the green following the positive sentiment in Asia as Hong Kong eased the restrictions further.”