Stocks continue to weaken

Stocks slipped anew Wednesday, mirroring the weakness across the region.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was down 0.19 percent, or 6.02 points, to 7,201.37 on relatively weak trading volume. The broader All-shares index was also down 0.14 percent to 4,265.40.

As with the day before, the mining and oil subindex bucked the downtrend, gaining 1.35 percent. Property companies also gained 0.18 percent. Losers Wednesday were led by services, down 0.59 percent, followed by financials, down 0.35 percent.

A total of 2.9 billion shares valued at P6.08 billion changed hands. There were a total of 104 decliners while 89 companies closed higher and 40 companies ended unchanged.

Gokongwei-led Universal Robina Corp. led the list of most actively traded companies as it dropped 0.78 percent to P204.40 a share. This was followed by Ayala Land Inc., down 1.31 percent to P34; Security Bank Corp., up 0.58 percent to P174; Ayala Corp., down 0.77 percent to P773.50, and Globe Telecom, down 2.64 percent to P2,140.

Other actively traded companies were Metro Pacific Investments Corp., down 1.53 percent to P5.81; Global Ferronickel Holdings, down 1.9 percent to P1.03; SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 1.82 percent to P22.40; JG Summit Holdings, up 0.06 percent to P81.40, and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., up 0.27 percent to P1,855 a share. Miguel R. Camus