Market tumbles as investors continue to unload PLDT

Share prices closed 0.99 percent lower yesterday as investors continued to sell down index heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), dealers said.

They said the market was also in correction mode as investors took profits from sharp gains made in recent weeks when they had taken positions in select stocks of companies that had been expected to report healthy earnings.

Volatile crude oil prices overnight also weighed on market sentiment.

The composite index ended down 23.16 points at 2,326.06. It touched a high of 2,348.86 and a low of 2,305.33. The broader all-shares index retreated 8.56 points to 1,436.61.

There were 45 losers and 45 gainers and 45 stocks unchanged with 4.08 billion shares traded worth P1.26 billion.

The retreat in PLDT, still weighed down by the company’s weak second-quarter profit report, pulled down the main index, dealers said.

The stock ended down P40 at P1,970.

"A sharp drop in PLDT’s stocks abroad heavily weighed on the market here today," said AB Capital Securities research head Jose Vistan.

In New York overnight, PLDT’s American Depositary Receipts fell $1.76 to P37.99.

"Investors are digesting the results and may be tempering their expectations going forward," said CitisecOnline.com analyst Mark Alan Canizares.

Dealers said higher oil prices overnight also dampened sentiment because they raised concern about inflation in the coming months.

Property firm Ayala Land fell 25 centavos to P13.25 while its parent, Ayala Corp., was down P5 at P415.

Bank of the Philippine Islands was down 50 centavos at P53.

San Miguel A shares were steady at P65 while the B shares were also unchanged at P73.50.

"There’s still residual selling on PLDT," said Banco de Oro Universal Bank assistant vice president Fitzgerald Aclan. However, some buying lifted the stock from its intraday low of P1,950.

Other active stocks included Global Equities, down 6.7 percent at P0.42 on profit taking after rising 41 percent during the past two sessions on speculation it will be used as a backdoor listing vehicle for a call center operator or a mining company.

The company has issued a statement saying it knows of no material reason for the rise in its stock price.

Philex Mining A and B each rose 4.6 percent to P4.55 and P4.60, respectively, after the mining concern posted favorable second-quarter results Thursday.

Thursday’s news that Philippines exports posted double-digit growth for the fifth straight month, rising 20.6 percent on year in June, was welcome, but it was also largely expected, Aclan said. – AFP, AP