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MANILA - (UPDATED 4:29 p.m.) Philippine share prices on Thursday extended their decline for a second session in lackluster trading on lingering investor concern over Europe and China.
At the Philippine Stock Exchange, the composite index dropped 24.31 points or 0.49 percent to close at 4,904.22.
Losers beat gainers, 85 to 68, while 41 stocks were unchanged. A total of 879.79 million stocks worth P3.96 billion changed hands.
"Investors stayed on the sidelines as investors searched for more clues on how Europe will act on its debt problems," said Freya Natividad, investor analyst at 2TradeAsia.com.
Global markets are showing little confidence that a meeting of European Union leaders will come up with measures to solve the region’s debt problems and prevent a potential economic downturn.
EU officials said they wanted Greece to remain in the euro zone, but the troubled nation should respect its commitments to the bailout.
Also dampening sentiment was the latest manufacturing data in China, which showed continued weakness in April.
Overnight, the Dow Jones industrial average dipped 6.66 points, or 0.05 percent, to 12,496.15.
Appetite for risky assets will remain weak heading into the weekend given the prevailing uncertainty overseas.
"But the recent consolidation is not alarming. At least we're holding at a level which is still healthy for the market," said Astro del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Finance Inc.
Actively traded stocks were PLDT, Universal Robina, DMCI, Semirara Mining and Ayala.
Top gainers were Easycall, Filipino Fund and Victorias Milling, while the day's biggest decliners were Manila Jockey Club, South China Resources ad Semirara Mining.
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