Share prices slip anew

The local stock barometer slipped for a second straight session on Wednesday, tracking a pullback in US stocks as tension over Ukraine escalated.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index gave up 25.03 points or 0.36 percent to close at 6,948.97.

The financial, industrial, holding firm, services, mining/oil and property counters led the index lower while the property sub-index managed to firm up slightly.

Value turnover was thin at P5.57 billion, typical of slower activities during the so-called “ghost month” when Chinese investors refrain from making big-ticket investments.  There were 67 advancers which were edged out by 101 decliners while 45 stocks were unchanged.

The day’s decline was led by PLDT (-2.1 percent), which was battered by profit-taking alongside Bloomberry, SMIC, Semirara and Meralco, which all fell by over 1 percent.

On the other hand, Globe (+2.69 percent) bucked the day’s downturn after reporting a net profit of P6.8 billion versus the previous year’s P1.48 billion. Doris C. Dumlao