PHL share prices drop 3% on first day of PSE's extended trading

Philippine share prices resumed their fall on Monday, the first day of extended trading hours in the local bourse. The PSE has extended the trading hours until 1 p.m. from its previous close of 12 noon, a move to prepare the local stock market for the link up with other markets in Southeast Asia. The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index dropped 133.82 points or 3.35 percent to 3,865.83 while the all shares dipped 77.28 points or 2.70 percent to 2,781.95. Losers dominated gainers, 127 to 33, while 24 stocks closed unchanged. All six sub-indices retreated with Mining & Oil and Holdings Firms suffering the worst with a 5.70-percent slide and 4.70-percent slip, respectively. Volume traded reached 7.52 billion shares valued at P3.16 billion. "For now, volatility is still high. The PSEi would likely swing erratically between gains and losses until it finds a solid ground where it can consolidate," said Maria Arlysa Narciso of AB Capital in a market note posted online. Last Friday, Wall Street posted losses. In Asia, as of mid-trade Monday, all bourses were trading lower with Hong Kong's Hang Seng losing nearly 5 percent. In the local bourse, all five most active stocks for the day closed in the red. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., one of the country's largest lenders in terms of assets and the session's top traded, declined P3.50 or 5.30 percent to P62.50. Retail giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. shed 0.42 or 3.44 percent at P11.78. Andrew Tan's Alliance Global Group Inc. plunged P0.50 or 5.35 percent to P8.85. Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. "A" slumped P0.09 or 7.20 percent to P1.16. DMCI Holdings Inc. tumbled P1.85 or 5.33 percent to P32.85. - CMA/OMG, GMA News