Philippine stocks slump by 3.34%
MANILA, Philippines—Local stocks went back to the doldrums on the first day of extended trading hours on Monday as last week’s bargain-hunting and quarter-end window-dressing activities fizzled out amid a volatile external environment.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index dipped by 133.82 points, or 3.34 percent, to finish at 3,865.83, with the mining/oil and holding firm counters leading the downturn.
Value turnover was thin at P3.16 billion. There were only 33 advancers, which were overwhelmed by 127 decliners while 24 stocks were unchanged. Net foreign selling exceeded buying by P272 million, adding to the day’s pullback.
The index hit a resistance near 4,000 in early trading and was thus on a downtrend for the rest of the session.
“The PSEi has turned bearish technically when it breached several key support levels two weeks ago. With the bearish tone in the market likely to persist, it will be important to take note of where the next key support levels will be,” local brokerage AB Capital Securities said.
“The initial support for the PSEi is at the 3,700 level, where it held support during the sell-off of last month. However, we believe that the said support is fragile and should give in on the next try,” it added.
Investors sold down shares of Metrobank, SM Prime, AGI, Lepanto A (open only to local investors), DMCI, PLDT, Aboitiz Power, BPI, BDO, EDC, ICTSI, ALI, SM Investments, Philex, Ayala Corp., ORE, FPH, Boulevard, AEV and Meralco.
Among the new gainers for the day were AgriNurture and PAL Holdings.
AgriNurture was up by 12 percent to P9.52 per share after its disclosure that Black Rivers, a private equity unit of American agribusiness giant Cargill, had offered to buy a 28.11 percent stake in the local company.
PAL Holdings rose by 8.58 percent on the implementation of its outsourcing plan and continuing talks about the potential entry of a new investor.
Starting Monday trading hours extend to 1 p.m.
Originally posted at 03:37 pm | Monday, October 03, 2011
