PSEi tumbles; drop may continue for a while

Local share prices continued to tumble due to a massive stock sell-off on Wednesday, mirroring Wall Street's slight drop overnight. Local stocks went down by 1.23 percent or 36.22 points or to 2,919.48, with subindices declining across the board. "The local market was once again pulled down by the US market," Harry Liu of Summit Securities said, noting that US President Barack Obama's plan to limit banks' size and risky trading had spooked investors. Liu expects the market drop to continue for a while, even as he noted that stocks might rally in the next trading days since stock prices appear to be underpriced. Losers were more than three times the gainers at 90 to 32, while 49 stocks were unchanged. Trading volume almost doubled to 2.21 billion stocks worth P2.91 billion. Property stocks were the day's biggest loser, tumbling by 1.93 percent or 19.52 points to 989.99, followed by financial stocks, which plummeted by 1.8 percent or 11.22 points to 614.48. Mining and oil stocks also fell by 1.68 percent or 165.48 points to 9,674.31 points, while industrial firms lost 1.33 percent or 58.9 points to 4,374.89. Service stocks likewise fell by 0.97 percent or 14.78 points to close at 1,512.37, while holding firms slid by 0.02 percent or 0.24 point to 1,570.39. Cityland Development Corp. was the day's biggest loser, slipping by 40 percent to 90 centavos. On the other hand, Realty firm Arthaland Corp. was the day's biggest gainer, climbing by half to 23 centavos. — GMANews.TV