Index down anew on negative external news

MANILA, Philippines - External weaknesses dampened investor sentiment yesterday, pushing the main index back to the 7,200 level.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index declined 0.62 percent or 45.47 points to settle at 7,268.91, marking the second straight day the bellwether index ended in the red.

“Investors found little reason to take aggressive positions in the market following Thursday’s surprise 70-point slump leaving the floor to the bears,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., analyst at Accord Capital Securities.

“The rush of negative news in the last two days, and a tepid movements in US stocks overnight, have kept investors opting for safety,” Calaycay said.

Wall Street and Asian stocks were again in the negative territory, still reeling from the weak Chinese manufacturing data and potential cut in US Federal Reserve’s stimulus program.

The Dow Jones industrial average shed 0.08 percent or 12.67 points to 15,294.50 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 0.29 percent or 4.84 points to 1,650.51.

All counters in the local bourse were in the red, paced by industrial firms that shed 0.7 percent or 76.80 points to 10,855.16.

Investor participation eased, with value of shares traded sank to P7.13 billion from P12.14 billion on Thursday. Decliners again outpaced advancers, 95 to 57, while 56 stocks did not change.

Top-traded stocks were also in the red, led by property giant Ayala Land Inc. (-0.57 percent), Universal Robina Corp. (-2.0 percent) and Bank of the Philippine Islands (-2.03 percent).