Philippine stock index falls below 5000 level

MANILA, Philippines—Most local stocks tumbled on Tuesday, dragging the main index below 5,000, as investors across the region fretted over China’s reduced growth target for 2012.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 63.39 points or 1.26 percent to close at 4,967.39, pulling back from historic highs on heavy profit-taking.

The PSEi has closed below 5,000 for the first time in two days. On Monday, the local index soared to a record high 5,030.58. All counters ended in the red but the most battered were the services, mining/oil and property counters, whose sub-indices fell by over 2 percent.

Turnover amounted to P5.99 billion.

There were 61 advancers against 93 decliners while 49 stocks were unchanged.

PLDT led the day’s decliners, falling by 2.79 percent to P2,790 per share.  The telecom giant reported a 21 percent decline in 2011 net profit to P31.7 billion.

“Disappointment on PLDT results was a major catalyst of the sell-off,” said fund manager  Gus Cosio, president of First Metro Asset Management Inc.

ALI, Metrobank, DMCI, AGI, AC, BPI, SMIC, AEV, Semirara, AP and JG Summit also contributed to the PSEi’s decline.  Other stocks that declined in heavy volume were NiHao, PNB and Marcventures.

On the other hand, the large-cap stocks that bucked the day’s downtrend were Megaworld, BDO and EDC.  Non-PSEi stocks Lodestar and Geograce also gained ground.

Across the region, investor appetite was dampened by news that China – Asia’s largest economy – had trimmed its 2012 growth target to an eight-year low of 7.5 percent alongside plans to cut reliance on external spending and foreign capital.