Philippine stocks lose over new worries on global economy

The local stock market skidded on Tuesday as fresh concerns about the health of the global economy dampened investor sentiment.

MANILA, Philippines—The local stock market skidded on Tuesday as fresh concerns about the health of the global economy dampened investor sentiment.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index gave up 25.77 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 4,350.09. The day’s decline, however, was more modest compared to the overnight bloodbath in Wall Street.

The closely watched Dow Jones Industrial Index tumbled by 151.44 points or 1.2 percent to end at 12,505.76 on Monday.

Marvin Fausto, chief investment officer at Banco de Oro Unibank, said at the sidelines of The Asset Forum that the global economy would continue to face rough sailing. “Global recovery will come only at a great price,” Fausto said, citing, for instance, the austerity measures to address the fiscal woes in Europe.

In an interview, Fausto added that the pending debate over the debt cap in the US continued to be an overhang to the market. He said the next major support for the index would be at 4,100.

All indices traded in the red except for the mining/oil counter, which continued to outperform with a 2.4 percent increase for the day. The mining index was supported by the upsurge in shares of Lepanto A and B.

The financial, holding firms and property counters were bludgeoned the most, all declining by over 1 percent.

Value turnover was thin at P4.36 billion. There were 50 advancers, which were edged out by 97 decliners while 35 stocks were unchanged.

Investors pocketed gains from previous days’ favorites like San Miguel Corp., EDC, AGI, Atlas, Meralco, Aboitiz Power, Philex, GERI, First Gen, Petron, FPH and Metro Pacific Investments. PNB continued to tumble given uncertainties created by the resignation of its president Eugene Acevedo.

On the other hand, East Asia Power, URC and Manila Water advanced for the day. East Asia Power was buoyed by reports that Century Properties had closed a deal to take over the company.

Apart from jitters caused by the bleak US jobs report and the debt ceiling debates, global financial markets were worried that the European debt crisis would spill over to Italy and Spain.