MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The Philippine stock market further retreated below the 6,200-level today over concerns that the United States might soon taper its economic stimulus.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 0.53 percent or 32.45 points to 6,122.89, while the broader all-share index fell by 0.70 percent or 26.50 points to 3,737.18.
Trading volume reached 853.18 million shares worth P8.54 billion ($196.06 million) with 123 stocks declining, 34 advancing and 41 were unchanged.
Of the six counters, only the industrial and the holding firm sectors bucked the trend.
“Weakness continue to prevail, following indications of tapering plans in the US,” brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said in its daily stock market comment.
Investors are worried that the US Federal Reserves might soon go slow on its $85-billion a month asset purchase program following signs of recovery in the labor market.
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This caused major currencies to slide and the Dow Jones to close Wednesday’s session 66.21 points lower.
2TradeAsia.com advises investors to spot for good trading windows in second-tier shares that have breached “oversold zones.”
Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly down. Among those sold out were Ayala Land, Inc., Alliance Global Group, Inc. and heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.
