PH stocks dip below 4,300

MANILA, Philippines–(UPDATE) Local stocks were a tad lower on Thursday, pulling back the main index below the 4,300 mark, as investors pocketed gains after the previous day’s run-up.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index gave up 5.38 points, or 0.12 percent, to finish at 4,297.93.

Investors were generally cautious amid reports that the first-quarter economic contraction of disaster-stricken Japan was much worse than expected. On the other hand, the local market shrugged off fresh signals from the US Federal Reserve that interest rates would remain low.

Trading was mixed across counters but the losses incurred by the industrial, holding firm and services sub-counters negated the modest gains posted by the financial, property and mining/oil counters.

Value turnover was heavier at P5.99 billion compared with the previous session’s turnout of P4.74 billion.

Despite the overall index dip, foreign investors were on the prowl for bargains, resulting in a net foreign buying position of P510 million for the day. As such, there were 65 advancers that had beaten 52 decliners for the day while 54 stocks were unchanged.

Lepanto “A,” SM Investments, ICTSI and Aboitiz Power led the index lower while San Miguel Corp. and Manila Mining “A” also traded in the red.

On the other hand, banking giants BDO and Metrobank tempered the index losses, alongside DMCI, AGI and Philex. Second-liners Cebu Air, Belle, Atlas Mining and Semirara also advanced.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Index was up by 80.60 points, or 0.65 percent, to 12,560.18, snapping out of a three-day decline as energy and materials companies benefited from a rally in commodity prices.