Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Philippine shares end lower on profit-taking fueled by Wall Street's retreat (5:45 p.m.)
MANILA-- Philippine shares dropped for the third day in a row Wednesday due to profit-taking prompted by Wall Street's overnight retreat.
The benchmark 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 60.73 points, or 1.6 percent, at 3,645.51.
"Technically, our market was already a bit overbought and a correction was in order," said Summit Securities President Harry Liu. "This retreat is welcome."
He said the Philippine market was likely to take its cue Thursday again from Wall Street, which retreated overnight on concerns about the fallout from U.S. problems with delinquencies on subprime mortgage loans.
Property and banking stocks, which have led the run-up to record high early this month, ended lower. Property developer Ayala Land Inc. plunged 4.1 percent at 17.50 pesos, Bank of the Philippine Islands fell 2.9 percent at 68 pesos, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. retreated 2.2 percent to 67 pesos.
The peso fell against the U.S. dollar as investors stayed away from risks and bought dollars. The greenback closed at 45.05, down from 44.82 on Tuesday. (AP) |
