Shares drop on Wall Street cues

MANILA, Philippines — Share prices fell for a second straight day as the local market took cues from declines in US equities.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index shed by 0.74 percent or 48.66 points to close yesterday’s session at 6,496.72.

The broader All Shares index also inched down by 0.02 percent or 0.84 percent to 3,749.85.

“The local market extended its decline amid the negative spillovers from Wall Street as US Treasury yields rose,” Philstocks Financial research manager Japhet Tantiangco said.

“Investors also dealt with the further rise of our national government’s outstanding debt,” he said.

According to Tantiangco, foreigners were net sellers with net outflows at P501.53 million.

Net value turnover slightly improved to P4.36 billion from P4.31 billion the previous day.

Similar to the Tuesday’s trading, all counters were in the red, except for mining and oil, which surged by 1.54 percent.

Holding firms took the biggest hit, plunging by 1.31 percent.

Market breadth, however, was positive as advancers edged out decliners in a tight contest, 110 to 106, while 44 issues were unchanged.

BDO was yesterday’s most actively traded stock, climbing by 1.03 percent to PP147 per share, followed by Metrobank with a 1.06-percent drop to P74.50.

Among index members, Globe Telecom recorded the highest jump at 5.02 percent, while Wilcon Depot lost the most with an 8.37 percent decline.

Asian equities wavered on yesterday as sentiment was knocked by a sell-off on Wall Street sparked by data indicating the US economy and jobs market remained robust, further denting hopes for interest rate cuts.