Stocks end lower

Share prices closed lower for the second straight day on Friday due to a technical correction following a significant rally since late last week.

The main Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dipped

0.74 percent or 32.23 points, closing at 4,302.43 points while the broader all-share index fell 0.34 percent to 3,013.24.

Lack of compelling news resulted in modest trading volume, with 3.57 billion shares changing hands for less than P5 billion.

“With the rather uneventful third-quarter earnings season unwinding, the market looked to its global peers for hints on where to push prices,” local brokerage firm Accord Capital Equities said in its daily comment.

“Notwithstanding a number positive developments last week, the growing prospects of a protracted European crisis, a slow pick up in US growth and a drop in export earnings at home may keep investors on edge heading into another week of trades,” Accord Capital Equities said. Paolo G. Montecillo