Thursday, July 06, 2006
Stocks fall 1.5% on security jitters (2:30 p.m.)
MANILA -- Philippine stocks fell Thursday as investors cashed in on recent gains amid security concerns spawned by North Korea's missile tests.
"Largely, geopolitical concerns caused the decline. Concerns on the interest rate front and oil prices are all part of it as well, but they have become secondary," said Grace Cerdenia, head of operations at 2TradeAsia.
The benchmark 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange Index lost 34.49 points, or 1.5 percent, at 2,227.85, after rising 9.5 percent during the past five sessions, including Wednesday's 0.3 percent gain.
The market's decline mirrored that of Wall Street, which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average give up 0.7 percent Wednesday after early indications showed a much larger than expected increase in U.S. payrolls for June, reviving concern the Federal Reserve may once again move to tighten monetary policy next month.
All sectoral indicators retreated. Decliners led gainers 53 to 19, while 56 stocks were unchanged.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. lost 1.8 percent to close at P1,935, while Bank of the Philippine Islands gave up 2.9 percent to finish at P50.50.
Also succumbing to profit taking were Philex Mining A, off 1.2 percent at 4.30 pesos, and Philex B, down 1.1 percent at PHP4.35.
Jollibee fell 3 percent to 32 pesos after Ysmael Baysa, chief financial officer of the Philippines' largest fast-food operator, said Wednesday the company is expected to post single-digit on-year sales growth for the second quarter after realizing a 15 percent on-year expansion in the first quarter due to slower consumer spending.(AP) |
