Phl stocks retreat on US stimulus worries

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market opened the week negatively on continued speculations that the United States will reduce its economic stimulus.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index dived by 3.68 percent or 258.57 points to 6,763.38. The broader all-share index slipped by 2.68 percent or 115.16 points to 4,176.87.

Trading volume reached 2.02 billion shares worth 16.58 billion pesos (394.38 million US dollars) with 138 stocks declining, 33 advancing, 33 unchanged.

"The composite index started the week in the red as it fell most since September 2011 amid talks on reduction of US monetary stimulus and increasing bond yields," brokerage DBP-Daiwa Securities, Inc. said.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake has already announced the possibility of cutting stimulus if they start seeing indications of sustained growth.

The brokerage noted that the move might curb demand for the country's equities, resulting in the heavy selling during the past days. Similarly, Asian equities were also trading in the negative after the report, which some analysts say is still premature.

The composite index bled by as much as 300 points in the intraday before managing to recover some of its losses by the final bell.

Among those that were heavily sold down were SM Prime Holdings, Inc., DMCI Holdings, Inc., and Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc.