Stocks keep downtrend for fifth day

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The bloodbath continues today as investors search for positive leads overseas.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index fell for the fifth time, losing as much as 0.63 percent or 40.81 points to 6, 436.49. The broader all-share index also retreated by 0.39 percent or 15.26 points to 3,917.99.

Trading volume reached 1.29 billion shares worth P8.42 billion ($194.77 million) with 86 stocks declining, 61 advancing, and 43 were unchanged.

Of the six counters, only the services sector bucked the trend.

"Having broken below the 6,500 level, buyers might find more time to wait, until local gauges settle on a more 'stable' zone," 2TradeAsia.com said in its daily stock market comment.

The brokerage noted that part of the spook covers uncertainty on domestic liquidity growth and interest rates, especially with the month-end expiry of adjustments covering Special Deposit Accounts.

This has caused investors to dump their shares for the past sessions, resulting in a sell-off this week.

Nevertheless, analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said that in the absence of strong negative signals that could justify a sell-off, a fair amount of positive news coming out of the woodwork could present buying opportunities.

2TradeAsia.com advises investors to start accumulating gradually on dips as technical relief rallies might also be in place.

Stocks in the 30-company index closed mixed. Among those sold down were heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Ayala Corp., and Megaworld Corp.