PHL share prices drop amid fears of a 'double-dip' recession in the US

Philippine share prices sank on Monday, tracking heavy losses on Wall Street and Asian peers as “double-dip recession" fears engulf investors. The bellwether 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index declined 8.04 points or 1.14 percent to 4,171.54 while the all shares retreated 33.25 points or 1.11 percent to 2,946.62. Market breadth was negative with 119 losers dominating 25 gainers and 23 stocks that closed unchanged. All six sectoral indices closed in the red, with Mining & Oil suffering the worst with 3.71-percent slide. The other five sub-indices lost anywhere between 0.29 percent and 1.57 percent. Trading improved with 2.01-billion shares worth P4.69 billion changing hands. Last Friday, Wall Street succumbed to a wide-spread selling following a statement by Ben Bernanke, US Federal Reserve chairman, that the growth in the world's largest economy was slower than usual, raising fears that the US, barely out of economic slump, could be headed for a double-dip recession. The events in the US prompted Asian bourses to rack up further losses. Main indices in Taipei, Shanghai and Jakarta were trading lower by over one percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng, Japan's Nikkei and Singapore's Straits Times were losing between 0.64 percent and 0.87 percent each. "...Poor economic numbers from the US in the prior week continued to digested in the absence of fresh news and data. This heightening concern has increased investors' aversion to risky assets, with the slower GDP (gross domestic product) growth seen as reflecting on corporate bottom-lines moving forward," said trader Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities in a market note. In the local bourse, all five top traded issues slipped. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., one of the country's largest lenders and the day's most active stock, dropped P0.60 or 0.87 percent to P68.50. Holding firm SM Investments Corp. dipped P2 or 0.37 percent to P538. Ayala-led Manila Water Co. Inc. lost P0.12 or 0.65 percent at P18.30. Telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. shed P2 or 0.09 percent at P2,298. Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. fell P0.04 or 4.55 percent to P0.84. -- CMA/OMG, GMA News