RP share prices end lower, dragged down by profit-taking

The Philippine Stock Exchange index retreated on Friday as fresh jitters caused by a disappointing jobs report in the US prompted profit-taking. The PSEi shed 16.93 points or 0.4 percent to close at 4,216.35, according to the PSE online market information as of 12:10 p.m. More than 2.556 billion shares valued at P5.652 billion were traded. Decliners led advancers 72 to 56 and 44 issues remained unchanged. “The market’s performance [on Friday] was only a correction from its strong performance early this week," said Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist of Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. However, he pointed out that the market’s uptrend is still intact, saying the market corrected because it was overbought last week. “The market was just taking a breather after several days of run-ups," Ravelas said. He said the Dow Jones ended by 1.51 points to close at 11,094.57 overnight. Sentiment was damped by a disappointing jobs report, adding weight to the view that high unemployment will continue to drag on an already weak recovery in the world’s largest economy, an AP report said. The market made up earlier losses as investors anticipated that the Federal Reserve will take steps soon to strengthen the US economy. -- VS/OMG, GMANews.TV