RP share prices down on first trading day of year

Philippine share prices dropped in lackluster trading on Monday, the first session of the year, with most investors still in holiday mood. “This is still a spillover of the holiday. It will be the first few days of lackluster trading considering the low value turnover," said Astro del Castillo, managing director of brokerage First Grade Holdings, Inc. He also noted the absence of market-moving news in between the holidays. “There is really nothing to perk the stock market up. It seems like most fund managers and investor were still celebrating the 63 percent gain last year," he said in an interview. Del Castillo said Monday's decline was nothing to worry about since value turnover was way below the P4-billion daily average. "There should be renewed buying towards the middle of the week. Stock movement will still be sideways with an upward bias," he added. Share prices went down by 1.56 percent or 47.67 points to 3,005.01. All shares also slid by 1.14 percent or 21.78 points to 1,896.86. Losers beat gainers 76 to 31, while 52 stocks were unchanged. Volume reached 615.56 million stocks worth P1.69 billion. Last year, the composite index gained 63 percent to finish at 3,052.68. The close was still far from the 2007 finish of about 3,800 points — a record high — before the US-led global economic crisis reared its ugly head the following year. US stocks slumped last Thursday in a thinly-traded session on the last day of 2009, but all three major indexes ended the year up. In 2009, the S&P 500 gained 23.4%, the Dow industrials gained 18.8% and the NASDAQ went up by 44%. US stocks were poised to start the new year with gains on Monday as investors await two economic reports and consider weekend comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. On the local front on Monday, subindices declined across the board, led by industrial stocks’ 2.36 percent or 109.4-point slide to 4,519.29. The financial index also went down by 2.2 percent or 14.73 points to 655.24, while mining and oil companies slid by the same percent or 235.75 points to finish at 10,527.09. Meanwhile, property shares were down by 1.62 percent or 17.41 points to 1,058.91, while holding firms dipped by .92 percent or 14.8 points to 1,596.72. Service stocks likewise lost 0.58 percent or 8.74 points to close at 1,500.18. — Norman P. Aquino, GMANews.TV