RP stocks continue drop despite Wall Street rise

Local share prices continued to slide despite steady Wall Street gains, with investors hunting for bargains during Friday's trade. Going down by as much as 30 points towards Friday's close, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) picked up due to last-minute bargain-hunting, closing 13.30 points or 0.41 percent lower to 3,256.54. "The market is still in the consolidation mode. It's a natural pause before any run-up, even if the Dow was up slightly the night before," analyst Astro del Castillo of First Grade Holdings said. Despite this, Del Castillo noted that the market's drop was not necessarily negative, and maintained a bullish long-term outlook. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went up by 21.46 points overnight, closing above the 11,100 psychological level. The NASDAQ composite and Standard & Poor's 500 index also gained 10.83 and 1.02 points, respectively. On the local front, the broader all-share index shed 9.12 points or 0.45 percent to 2,022.94, with 1.93 billion stocks worth P2.98 billion changing hands. Four of the six subindices posted losses, led by holding firms going down by 2 percent or 41.51 points to 2,049.1. Industrial stocks likewise shed 0.63 percent or 31.25 points to 4,945.54. Mining and oil stocks closed 0.3 percent or 28.55 points lower at 9,522.95, while financial stocks barely moved at 0.01 percent or 0.04 point to 701.11. Bucking the trend were service stocks, which gained 0.16 percent or 1.91 points to 1,206.55, and service stocks, closing 0.29 percent or 4.25 points higher at 1,490.45. Decliners outnumbered gainers, 75 to 19, with 65 unchanged. First Philippine Holdings Corp., the most traded stock, gained 50 centavos to P57.50. Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. also went up by P25 to P2,510. Unchanged were share prices of SM Investments Corp. at P397.50, Metrobank at P51.50, and Ayala Land, Inc. at P13.75. Metro Pacific Investments Corp. lost 5 centavos to P2.95, while Energy Development Corp. shed 10 centavos to P5. -Nikka Corsino, GMANews.TV