RP stocks plunge nearly 3%, dragged by Wall St

Philippine stocks fell sharply on Monday, following Wall Street’s lead which lost nearly 300 points over the weekend, analysts said. This is the fourth consecutive day local traders have remained wary of the mortgage sector woes in the United States. The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index plunged 95.25 points or 2.84 percent to 3,256.99. The broader all shares index lost 63.79 points or 2.97 percent at 2,086.39. This, after the Dow Jones industrials tumbled 281 points over the weekend. The sharp drop was prompted by speculation that weakness in the lending sector could hurt the United States economy. "Because our market is still largely foreign-driven, we fall into step with the performances of the Dow Jones and Wall Street," Unicapital analyst Ron Rodrigo said. Rodrigo said August is also traditionally a weak month, which has kept even the usually bullish Chinese investors in the sidelines. "Even the US fund managers are on vacation," he said. But Rodrigo added that the local bourse is due for a rebound this week, saying that its fall may already have been "overdone." Losers whipped gainers 103 to 19 in local trade on Monday. There were 43 stocks unchanged. Trade volume reached 5.52 billion valued at P5.22 billion. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the heaviest stock in the market, fell P15 to P2,610. PLDT has American Depositary receipts listed in the New York Stock Exchange. Mall operator SM Prime Holdings shed P1.25 or 10.64 percent at P10.50. Ayala Land Inc. fell P0.75 or 5 percent to P14.25. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the country's largest lender in terms of assets, lost P2.50 or 4.20 percent at P57. Mining exploration company Geograce Resources gained P0.06 or 3.37 percent at P1.84. - Cheryl Arcibal, GMANews.TV