Index down for 5th straight day

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine stock market failed to snap a four-day decline yesterday, leaving share prices lower for the fifth straight day.

Analysts said concerns of lower economic growth in the second quarter continue to linger and that second quarter earnings of companies failed to impress market investors.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined 3.39 points, or 0.04 percent, to settle at 7,333.45, while the broader All-Shares index retreated 7.45 points, or 0.17 percent, to close at 4,183.98.

Trading remained thin at P5.23 billion. Decliners continued to dominate over advancers,103 to 61 while 42 stocks were left unchanged.

Analysts said the results of yesterday’s trading were typical of a ghost month scenario.

“Value turnover fell way short of the averages while breadth continues to be widely negative. So far, the index ’ movements and value flows have been consistent with the expected ghost month scenario. It remains a question still of whether this is owed to tradition or to the changes in the macro-economic environment,” said Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital.

Calaycay said investors are also expecting higher second quarter earnings.

“Yes, they were positive mostly but it wasn’t what the market thought sufficient to boost confidence,” he said.

With second quarter earnings out of the way, the market will keep a close watch on second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth figures, Calaycay said.