RP share prices track Wall Street's decline

Share prices on the Philippine Stock Exchange slid Wednesday, tracking Wall Street's decline overnight in the absence of market-leading news. The Philippine Stock Exchange index closed 8.72 points or 0.26 percent lower at 3,342.97, with 1.14 billion stocks worth P3.05 billion changing hands. "In a way sentiments are still negative, primarily because of the US market's loss last night. Asian markets were down as well, so the market found it quite hard to rally. Besides there are no fresh leads to spice up the market," Jasper Jimenez of Banco De Oro Securities told GMANews.TV. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 148.89 points Tuesday, while the NASDAQ composite and the S&P 500 index slid by 27.29 and 17.89 points, respectively. The broader PSE all-share index finished 2.03 points or 0.1 percent higher at 2,134.96. Prices across the board finished on a mixed note, as holding firms, property, service, and financial stocks posted slight losses. Mining and oil stocks and industrial stocks went up by 1.8 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. Friday's session finished with 54 losers, 41 gainers, and 72 stocks. Most traded stock DMCI Holdings Inc. finished 50 centavos higher at P18.25. — Nikka Corsino/VS, GMANews.TV