RP stocks continue slide, local traders still wary

Local share prices on Monday continued to retreat as investors remained timid despite moves by banks abroad to lend cash to their financial markets, analysts said. The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 14.93 points or 0.45 percent at 3,267.03 while the all share index slipped 12.35 points or 0.59 percent to 2,097.35. Losers trounced gainers 83 to 28 while 43 stocks were steady. However, gains by the market's heaviest issue, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., limited the local bourse's slide. PLDT rose P15 or 0.59 percent to P2,570. Grace Cerdenia, managing director of online stock brokerage firm 2TradeAsia, said moves by foreign central banks to inject money into capital markets have failed to ease worries on problems plaguing the United States lending sector. "Those assurances are still insufficient," Cerdenia said. The Bank of Japan has recently released $5 billion into its money markets following concerns on US subprime mortgages. The Japanese central bank also infused cash into the systems on Friday, hoping to arrest the slide of the Tokyo stock market. In the local trading, volume traded reached 2.73 billion valued at P3.71 billion. Holding company MacroAsia Corp. fell P0.10 or 2.04 percent to P4.80. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the country's largest lender, gained P0.50 or 0.87 percent at P58. Developer Ayala Land Inc. was steady at P14.75. Property company Megaworld Corp. lost P0.10 or 2.99 percent at P3.25. - Cheryl Arcibal, GMANews.TV