Sluggish regional markets weigh down on local stocks

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MANILA, Philippines — The local stock barometer slipped on Thursday, still hitting a strong barrier near the 6,000 level and likewise weighed down by sluggish regional markets and jitters on the local power sector.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 48.97 points or 0.82 percent to close at 5,937.51.

Across the region, stock markets were mostly lower due to a weak manufacturing indicator out of China alongside the release of US Federal Reserve minutes suggesting declining benefits from its monetary stimulus program, which in turn affirmed the thrust towards the tapering of its bond buying operations.

Most counters were in the red but the worst hit were the financial (-2.06 percent) and property (-1.11 percent) sub-indices as the bottoming out of interest rates globally, given the US Fed’s tapering move, is seen to gnaw at these sectors. Only the services counter ended with a modest gain.

The index stocks that fell in heavy volume were Metrobank (-5.01 percent) and Meralco (-3.19 percent) while ICTSI, Megaworld and BDO all slumped by over 2 percent. SM Prime, ALI, SMIC, AC and BPI slipped by over 1 percent.

The power industry is currently besieged with allegations of collusion among power generation firms to keep prices high although industry players clarify that the recent price spikes at the spot electricity market were caused by overlapping maintenance and forced outages as well as the 150-megawatt capacity that was lost when supertyphoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan) struck in November.

In December, the Supreme Court stopped Meralco’s tariff increase.

Market breadth was negative at the local bourse, with 48 advancers being overwhelmed by 93 decliners. Value turnover amounted to P5 billion.

Originally posted at 5:55 p.m.