PHL share prices drop, mirror slide in US equities

Philippine share prices closed lower on Monday, tracking the slide in US equities at last week's close. The benchmark 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index dropped 15.60 points or 0.35 percent to 4,375.86 while the all shares dipped 2.51 points or 0.08 percent to 3,068.29. Losers outnumbered gainers, 71 to 63, while 47 stocks closed unchanged. The six sectoral indices were split in half, with Property, Holding Firms and Services closing in the red, while Financials, Industrial and Mining & Oil ending in the green. Volume traded reached 2.99 billion shares valued at P4.31 billion. Last Friday, Wall Street inched down, dragged by worse-than-expected unemployment numbers. Trader Justino Calaycay Jr. of Accord Capital Equities said the slide in US equities tempered optimism at the local market and provided the "fodder or excuse for investors to book profits." "Over the near-term, however, the index will remain challenged to find new impetus to keep trading above the 4,400 mark," Calaycay said. Of the five most active stocks for the day, four posted gains. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., one of the country's largest lenders in terms of assets and the day's top traded, climbed P1.25 or 1.74 percent to P72.90. San Miguel Corp. rose P2.20 or 1.69 percent to P132.20. Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp. added P0.60 or 2.59 percent at P23.80. Holding firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp. gained P0.03 or 0.83 percent at P3.63. Geothermal power producer Energy Development Corp. declined P0.09 or 1.28 percent to P6.93. -- CMA/OMG, GMA News