Index tumbles on lack of positive leads

MANILA, Philippines - The sluggish performance of markets abroad and lack of positive leads dragged the main index down to the 6,300 territory.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell 1.01 percent or 64.33 points to 6,336.34 while the broader all shares index lost 0.84 percent or 32.49 points to 3,829.24.

“Investors found little motivation to stay positive, given a slide in both US and European markets overnight,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp.

“The PSEi broke into the 6,330-6,350 interim support range and appears to be heading for the first Fibonacci retracement point at 6,295,” Calaycay said, adding that the losses widened in the afternoon session.

The retreat in technology and biotechnology companies pulled down Wall Street on Monday. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 0.16 percent or 26.08 points to 16,276.69, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 0.49 percent or 9.08 points to 1,857.44.

Asian market ended in the negative territory, also weighed down by weak performance of Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225 eased 0.36 percent or 52.11 points to 14,423.19.

Locally, all counters were in the red, paced by mining and oil that sank 1.46 percent or 212.57 points to 14,367.42 while financial firms retreated 1.37 percent or 20.98 points to 1,512.77.

Investor participation slightly improved as P6.73 billion worth of shares changed hands from P6.02 billion on Monday. There were three decliners for every advancer, while 58 stocks did not change.

Most active shares ended lower, paced by index heavyweight PLDT (-0.15 percent), DMCI Holdings Inc. (-0.65 percent) and Universal Robina Corp. (-1.64 percent). But firms of property tycoon Andrew L. Tan like Travellers International Hotel Group (+2.18 percent) and Megaworld Corp. (+0.49 percent) bucked the trend yesterday.