Stocks slip on talk of Fed hike

The local stock index on Friday ended a five-day run-up as talks of a potential US interest rate hike by March weighed down regional markets.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index gave up 50.03 points, or 0.73 percent, to close at 6,842.15. The interest rate-sensitive property counter (-1.56 percent) led the day’s decliners.

Across the region, regional markets tumbled on reports that a US Federal Reserve official had talked about a likely increase in US interest rates by March.

The financial, industrial, holding firm and mining/oil counters likewise slipped.

Value turnover amounted to P6.91 billion.

There were 75 advancers against 100 decliners, while 54 stocks were unchanged.

Other stocks that gave up gains were SMPH and SMIC, both down by over 2 percent. ALI, Megaworld and EDC also slipped by over 1 percent.

BDO, Metrobank, URC, DMCI and BPI likewise fell.

On the other hand, Petron (+1.58 percent) posted gains due to a favorable outlook by a foreign broker.

PLDT and AC also firmed up.

Outside of the main index, those that bucked the downturn were MARC (+3.48 percent), LPZ (+1.89 percent) and Puregold (+1.3 percent).  Doris C. Dumlao