PSEi falls 0.25%

Philippine stocks slipped anew Thursday, mirroring declines across the region after The Bank of Japan unexpectedly held off from expanding stimulus.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 0.25 percent, or 17.97 points, to 7,162.56 while the broader all-shares index also declined by 1.25 percent, or 53.58 points, to 4,247.85.

Trading volume was relatively low, with about 1.27 billion shares valued at P6.68 billion changing hands Thursday. There were 110 gainers while 71 companies closed in the red and another 55 closed unchanged.

It was also a mixed picture when looking at sub-sectors. Mining and oil surged by 2.21 percent, followed by property, up 0.61 percent, and financials, up 0.21 percent. Losers were led by holding companies, down 0.65 percent, services, down 0.39 percent, and industrial companies, down 0.22 percent.

Universal Robina Corp. was the most actively traded company, although it slipped 0.76 percent to P208 per share.

This was followed by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., down 1.39 percent to P1,701; BDO Unibank Inc., unchanged at P99.50; SM Prime Holdings, up 2 percent to P22.90, and Ayala Corp., down 0.52 percent to P772 per share. Miguel R. Camus