PHL stocks plunge 2.5% amid massive sell-off in global equity markets

Philippine share prices plunged for the third straight day on Thursday following a concession of the US Federal Reserve that the world's largest economy is facing "significant downside risks", triggering a massive sell-off in global equity markets. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index fell 108.19 points or 2.57 percent to 4,096.10 while the all shares tumbled 60.26 points or 2.02 percent to 2,916.54. The market's close was its lowest since the year's first quarter. Market breadth was negative with 144 losers dominating 28 gainers and 24 stocks that closed unchanged. All six sectoral indices retreated between 1.99 percent and 3.06 percent. Volume traded reached 15.58 billion valued at P4.95 percent. Along with the admission that a full economic recovery may take a while, the Fed has also announced new steps to prop the sagging US economy. The assurance was insufficient. Overnight Wednesday, Wall Street slumped with the Dow sliding 2.49 percent, while Nasdaq slipping 2.01 percent. As of mid-trade Thursday in Asia, all bourses were down with Indonesia's Jakarta Composite losing 6 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropping 4 percent. "For conservative investors in the unsure market, one might want to position on utilities and high dividend yield issues. For those who still have the risk appetite, the trend is still in the mining sector...Beyond that, we all (the world market) need some sort of mitigation," AB Capital said in a market note posted online. In the local bourse all five most active stocks for the day closed in the red. Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. "A", the session's top traded, shed P0.02 or 1.53 percent at P1.29. Telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. lost P52 or 2.27 percent at P2,238. Alliance Global Group Inc., the holding firm of Andrew Tan, dipped P0.33 or 3.28 percent to P9.73. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., one of the country's largest lenders in terms of assets, declined P1.90 or 2.72 percent to P67.90. NiHao Mineral Resources International Inc. said P0.14 or 3.20 percent to P4.23. - CMA/OMG, GMA News