PH shares suffer further losses

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange, battered by weeks of volatility, dropped anew on Tuesday on fresh trade worries between the United States and China.

The PSEi lost 1.31 percent, or 92.97 points, to 7,016.06 while the broader all-shares index was down 1 percent to 4,309.80.

The decline came amid even weaker volume relative to the previous sessions. A total of 429.03 million shares valued at P3.95 billion changed hands yesterday.

There we’re 94 losers against 59 gainers while 62 companies closed unchanged.

Among subsectors, mining and oil as well as financials closed positive, with gains of 0.69 percent and 0.51 percent, respectively.

Holding firms suffered the biggest drop at 1.87 percent. These were followed by industrial, down 1.49 percent, services, down 1.38 percent and property, down 1.25 percent.

Property giant Ayala Land Inc. was the most actively traded yesterday as it lost 1.03 percent to P38.30 per share.

The builder was followed by Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 2.99 percent to P79.50, SM Prime Holdings, down 1.89 percent to P33.75, Jollibee Foods Corp., down 2.22 percent to P264, and BDO Unibank Inc., up 3.97 percent to P123 per share.

Other actively traded stocks were International Container Terminal Services Inc., unchanged at P91, Megawide Construction Corp., up 0.57 percent to P17.78, Security Bank Corp., up 0.7 percent to P143, Metropolitan Bank and Trust, down 0.77 percent to P64.50, and Ayala Corp., down 1.64 percent to P900 per share.