Stocks continue tumble due to political jitter

(Updated) — The local composite index continued its dive on Tuesday despite a sharp overnight recovery on Wall Street, with jittery investors doubting the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) ability to automate this year's national and local polls. The index tumbled by 0.66 percent or 19.03 points to 2,864.18 — a fresh three-month low — with losing stocks more than triple the number of gainers. Analyst Ronan Gerona of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said news of the poll body's scheduling problems, as well as rumors of certain quarters set to disrupt the May 10 exercise was making the market nervous. "[The Comelec] has been giving assurances about automation but in terms of scheduling, when your'e saying one thing and your'e doing another it doesn't boost the confidence of the market," Gerona said in an interview. He said investors have lingering doubts about the country's ability to hold clean and honest elections. "Investors have lingering doubts that automation will not succeed, whoever wins." Brokerage 2TradeAsia said it might take time for investors to start buying again "following the local barometer’s unabated slide from earlier critical support barriers." In a market summary, the company said some would-be buyers might monitor the index's daily performance given the apparent sell-off in select blue chips. "Others might wait until local inflation data has been announced towards the end of the week, unless offset by prospective stimulus measures overseas," 2TradeAsia said. "Position for the medium term and seize on weaknesses to average in stocks that are quick to bounce when anxieties dissipate," it added. Subindices dropped across the board in thin trade of a little more than P2 billion. US stocks surged on Monday, starting off a new month with strong gains, as investors welcomed better-than-expected reports on personal income, manufacturing and Exxon Mobil's profit. The Dow Jones industrial average rose by 1.2 percent or 118 points, while the S&P 500 index gained 1.4 percent or 15 points. The NASDAQ composite also added 1.1 percent or 24 points. On the local front, mining and oil stocks went down by 1.97 percent or 191.27 points to 9,527.94, while holding firms slid by 1.34 percent or 20.73 points to 1,521.6. Financial stocks also lost 0.99 percent or 6.13 points to 613.07, while property companies slipped by 0.67 percent or 6.7 points to 986.15. Industrial shares were likewise down by 0.66 percent or 28.27 points to 4,266.78, while service companies lost 0.36 percent or 5.35 points to 1,470.1 — Norman P. Aquino, GMANews.TV