Phl bourse retreats further on US Fed tapering concerns

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) -

Despite this, the local bourse managed to hold on to the 5,800- level.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index fell by 1.49 percent, or 87.99 points, to 5,835.13, while the broader all-share index lost 1.22 percent, or 44.19 points, to 3,589.89.

Trading volume reached 1.11 billion shares worth P7.59 billion ($171.08 million) with 51 stocks advancing, 91 declining and 42 were unchanged.

All six counters were down.

"The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEI) surged from oversold levels this past week even as the US Federal Reserve ( Fed) started the tapering of monetary stimulus," analyst Gregg Ilag of AB Capital Securities, Inc. said in his daily stock market comment.

The PSEi is up 68 points, or 1.18 percent, higher week-on-week with investors having anticipated the tapering since the start of the December.

Ben Bernanke, the outgoing Federal Reserve chairman, said that they will reduce their monthly asset purchases by $10 billion to $75 billion starting January 2014.

"The $10 billion reduction, which was already discounted in the past weeks, triggered a brief relief rally upon its release to newswires. Investors were previously speculating that tapering won't start until Janet Yellen takes over as Federal Reserve chairman this January," Ilag said.

Ilag note that trading could be slow next week as trading days are limited to three given the Christmas holidays on Dec. 24 and 25 and because no economic data are scheduled for release.

"There will likely be lower volume throughout the week," the analyst said.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly down. Among those sold down were conglomerates Ayala Corp., Alliance Global Group, Inc. and SM Investments Corp.