Stocks closed lower over Typhoon Ruby

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market on Tuesday tracked the movement of the US equities which ended Monday's session with a three-point drop.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 0.65 percent or 46.69 points to 7,183.87, while the broader all-share index slipped by 0.58 percent or 24.44 points to 4,225.56.

Trading volume reached 2 billion shares worth P10 billion ($224.67 million) with 104 stocks declining, 71 advancing, and 46 were unchanged.

Of the six counters, only the holding firm sector bucked the trend.

Online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said in its daily stock market comment that sentiments glided with Wall Street's sell-off as players digest the overall impact of declining crude futures prices.

"Some might also re-assess the effects of Typhoon Hagupit on the economy while waiting for new leads," 2TradeAsia.com said in its daily stock market comment.

While investors took advantage of the drop in local share prices, which touched an intra-day low of 7,176.23, the bargain hunting however was not enough to pull up the equities.

Investors, the online brokerage said, mostly seized the weakness to reposition, specifically those with good ability to recover once the dust settles.

Stocks in the 30-company index closed mixed. Shares of heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., BDO Unibank, Inc., and Bloomberry Resorts Corp. were sold down.