Rate Worries Hound Market
May 01, 2011
The Philippines Stock Exchange Index of 41 selected issues slid 16.03 to 3092.67. Volume was 3.33 billion shares valued at 2.43 billion pesos. Losers outnumbered gainers 74 to 25, with 73 issues unchanged. Aside from U.S. interest rates, analysts said concerns over the stability of the region in the face of the troubles in Indonesia and Thailand were also hurting the flow of funds into stock markets in the region, particularly in the Philippines. Among those hurt by profit-taking was newly-listed Uniwide Holdings, which closed at 4.75 pesos, down from its initial public offering price of 4.80 pesos. Uniwide Holdings, which sank to as low as 4.65 pesos before rebounding due to last-minute buying, accounted for nearly one-fifth of Monday's trading. Other active stocks included Filinvest Land, which lost 30 centavos to 8.90 pesos due to profit-taking, while DMCI Holdings advanced 1 peso to 17 pesos on rumors it would exceed its net profit target of 949 million pesos for this year, analysts said. Except for the property subindex -- which rose 0.2%, all sectors fell. The commercial-industrial subindex lost 0.7%, the mining sector dropped 1.9%, and the oil subindex retreated 0.3%.
