PH stocks slump

MANILA, Philippines–Philippine stocks sank on Tuesday, mirroring declines across the region, as investors worried that global economic growth was slowing down partly due to weaker oil prices.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 1.58 percent, or 115.24 points, to 7,160.38 while the broader all-shares index was down 0.90 percent, or 38.54 points, to 4,227.62.

Subsectors were mainly in the red, save for mining and oil, which gained 1.5 percent. Losers were led by the property index, which fell 2 percent.

Astro del Castillo, First Grade Finance Inc. managing director, said in an interview that the drop was due to external factors such as weakening oil prices.

“This is having a spillover effect in that in might have an impact on global growth,” Del Castillo said.

He noted, however, that domestic fundamentals remained sound. The PSEi, he said, would likely stay above 7,000 through the end of the year and possibly hit the 7,200-7,300 level.

The outlook comes as declining stocks far outstripped gainers, or 113 against 69, while 38 companies closed unchanged. A total of 2.1 billion

shares changed hands for P7.05 billion, data from the PSE showed.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. led the list of most actively traded stocks, gaining 1.76 percent to P16.70 a share. This was followed by Universal Robina Corp. (down 1.22 percent to P194), Bloombery Resorts Corp. (up 1.75 percent to P12.82), Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (up 0.85 percent to P2,864) and BDO Unibank (down 1.82 percent to P108).–Miguel R. Camus