MANILA, Philippines – Share prices went down anew yesterday as investors took a wait-and-see stance ahead of the third quarter corporate earnings reports, analysts said.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed 29.09 points lower at 7,580.22, while the broader All Shares index lost 7.86 points to settle at 4,491.09.

Lexter Azurin, analyst at Unicapital Securities attributed the market’s decline to profit taking. “Trading remained quiet today with volume of only P6 billion. Foreign selling continued to per­sist at P317 million, accounting for 63 percent of the total. It’s profit taking since the market has rallied from the 7,300 level in the past few days,” Azurin said.

Azurin said investors are keeping a close tab on third quarter performance of companies. “The market is trying to anticipate the third quarter earnings which are expected to be released in the next few weeks,” Azurin said.

Investors are also hoping for positive results of President Duterte’s trip to Japan following a successful state visit to China wherein he was able to secure $13.5 billion in deals.

Total value turnover yesterday reached P6.54 billion. Despite the thin volume, market breadth was positive, with advancing stocks beating decliners, 97 to 82 while 49 stocks did not move.