Thin trading seen

Trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange, which was suspended Wednesday as Typhoon “Glenda” barrelled through Luzon, will likely remain “anemic” Thursday given the lack of strong leads, a stockbroker said.

While investors were concerned about the damage caused by the typhoon, whose strong winds damaged the facades of several buildings and caused flash floods in Metro Manila and nearby areas, there was a general sense that it was not as destructive as previous storms, said First GradeFinance Inc. managing director Astro del Castillo.

“It could be directionless trading. Most investors are concerned about second-quarter corporate results,” Del Castillo said, adding that market players might look toward external events for leads, in the meantime.

Del Castillo also admitted that it would take several days for a full picture to emerge on the damage wrought by Glenda.

“But the early snapshot is that it was not as bad as early storms like ‘Milenyo’ that it was being compared to,” Del Castillo said. Milenyo hit the country in 2006, causing widespread damage. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended Tuesday’s session up 0.05 percent, or 3.67 points, to 6,834.04.

A total of 1.41 billion shares changed hands on Tuesday valued at about P5.7 billion. Despite the slight gain, there were still 114 decliners against 65 firms that rose while 45 companies ended unchanged. Miguel R. Camus