Wall Street vibes depress PH shares

MANILA — Philippine shares ended in the red for the sixth consecutive session on Thursday as investors’ hopes were dampened by high March US inflation.

By the closing of the session, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index dipped by 0.94 percent, or 63.42 points, to 6,677.65.  The broader All Shares Index also slipped by 0.95 percent, or 33.72 points, to 3,525.87.

A total of 747.27 million shares valued at P6.71 billion changed hands, stock exchange data showed.

Property firms lost the most (3.54 percent) as Ayala Land Inc. and SM Prime Holdings Inc. went down.

READ: Asia tracks Wall St losses as US data deals blow to rate cut hopes

“Negative spillovers from Wall Street driven by the higher-than-expected US inflation for March clouded investors’ sentiment. The bourse was in the red territory for the whole session,” said Mikhail Plopenio, researcher at Philstocks Financial Inc.

Ayala Land was the top-traded stock as it plunged by 5.21 percent to P28.20 per share.

It was followed by Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., up 2.21 percent to P69.50 each; BDO Unibank Inc., down 0.33 percent to P151.30; SM Investments Corp., up 0.1 percent to P971; and International Container Terminal Services Inc., up 0.92 percent to P329.

SM Prime Holdings went down by 3.8 percent to P30.40 per share; Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 2.62 percent to P117.50; Alliance Global Group Inc., down 1.59 percent to P9.90; DigiPlus Interactive Corp., down 6.13 percent to P12.24; and Ayala Corp., down 1.22 percent to P606.50.

Overall, there were 57 advancers against 134 losers, while 50 companies were unchanged at closing, stock exchange data showed. —Meg J. Adonis