Index tumbles on extended profit taking

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine stocks tumbled yesterday following an extended profit taking in the local bourse.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slid 0.48 percent or 34.54 points to close below the 7,200 support mark at 7,167.89, while the broader all shares index declined 0.49 percent or 20.93 points to 4,244.29.

“The local market followed leads from the overseas markets. IMF’s cut on its growth forecast was still a factor as well as the slowdown in Europe,” said Joyce Ramos, analyst at AB Capital Securities Inc.

Ramos said the local market had succumbed to profit-taking the previous days and Friday’s performance was an extension.

The market saw its best performance last week on Thursday, the only time the bellwether index closed in the positive territory for the entire week. Thursday’s gain, however, was timid at 0.23 percent.

Abroad, Asian and US stocks declined after soaring the previous day. All three indexes in Wall Street suffered huge losses, with the S&P 500 leading with a 2.07 percent or 40.68-point decline.

Locally, all counters finished in the red, led by mining and oil firms which lost 1.47 percent or 244.56 points.

Value turnover dropped to P7.25 billion from Thursday’s P7.72 billion. Market breadth turned sour as decliners crushed advancers, 116 to 63, while 43 were unchanged.