PHL share prices lose steam, snap six-day upswing

Philippine shares retreated on Thursday, snapping a six-day upswing as profit-taking prevailed. The benchmark 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index slipped 27.03 points or 0.60 percent to 4,480.01 while the all shares slid 10.82 points or 0.35 percent to 3,113.27. Losers trumped gainers, 103 to 67, while 35 stocks closed unchanged. Save for Services, which inched up 0.22 percent, all other five sub-indices closed in the red, led by Mining & Oil's 2.73-percent dip. Volume traded reached 9.88 billion shares valued at P6.04 billion. "Profit-taking may begin to surface as a viable and reasonable stance as the week approaches a close," said trader Justino Calaycay Jr. of Accord Capital Equities in a market note. The main index of the PSE had been hitting successive highs since July 15 and breached the 4,500 mark and posted a fresh high of 4,507.04 on Wednesday. The market's decline also came following Wall Street's overnight slide. In Asia, meanwhile, bourses were split with bellwether indices in Australia, Indonesia, India, Malaysia and New Zealand trading in the green, and those in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan trading in the red. In the local stock market, the top traded stock for the day was unchanged. SM Investments Corp., the holding company of the Sy family, was flat at P539, while banking unit Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. shed P0.35 or 0.57 percent at P60.45. Property holding company Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. rose P0.19 or 6.01 percent to P3.35. Philex Mining Corp. declined P1.35 or five percent to P25.65. Metro Pacific Investments Corp. climbed P0.02 or 0.56 percent to P3.59. -- CMA/OMG, GMA News