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Philippine shares retreated on Monday, as investors pocketed gains from last week when the market touched a 12-month high.
The bellwether PSEi lost 53.42 points or 0.66 percent to 8,018.05. The broader All Shares shed 23.74 points or 0.50 percent to 4,766.86.
"Profit-taking. Last week we gained 1.02 percent," Jeffrey Lucero, equity research analyst at RCBC Securities Inc., said.
The PSEi closed at 8,071.47 last Friday, the highest since July 27, 2016 when the index finished at 8,100.48.
"The index hit a low of 7,953.47. Thankfully, buying at the close pared some of the losses and helped the index close above 8,000," Lucero said.
Summit Securities Inc. President Harry G. Liu said the decline could also be attributed to ghost month of August.
"We're entering the August month, which is psychologically a negative – the ghost month ... as August is usually a soft period, just a quiet market," he said.
"Six-month reports should be coming out already, so that should be able to sustain it. The ASEAN event is also forthcoming so let's hope something good can prop up," he added.
Foreign funds bought P4.240 billion of shares during the session and sold P4.335 billion for a net selling position of P94.409 million.
More than 1.412 billion shares, valued at P7.933 billion, changed hands. Losers led winners, 129 to 74, and 53 issues were unchanged. — VDS, GMA News