PHL stocks dip on profit-taking, US economic woes

Shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange moved sideways to negative Wednesday, weighed by profit taking on fears of a slower US economy in the second quarter.

 

Investors lost confidence as the US market dipped and the US economy slowed to 1.5 percent in the second quarter from 2 percent in the first quarter, said chief market strategist Jonathan Ravelas at BDO Unibank.

 

The main PSEi slipped 8.94 points or 0.17 percent to close at 5,298.72.

 

More than 1.3 billion shares valued at P5.6 billion were traded.

 

Losers led winners 94 to 59, with 49 issues unchanged.

 

Sectoral indices were on a par today, said head trader Ranulfo Fernandez Jr. of BPI Securities Corp.

 

But the market slipped after players went on profit-taking mode, Fernandez noted.

 

Tanduay Holdings Inc. was one of the most actively traded issues Wednesday after it disclosed that business tycoon Lucio Tan decided to use the company as the holding firm to consolidate all his companies.

 

“If you’re looking at the market, it’s moving sideways, so you might as well hold on to cash,” said Fernandez.

 

The Dow Jones Industrial average slipped 27 points or 0.2 percent Tuesday, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index dipped 2 points or 0.1 percent. — VS, GMA News