Philippine Shares Fall on Political Woes
Monday June 20, 6:39 am ET
Philippine Shares Fall on Political Woes, Soaring Oil Prices After Five-Day Advance
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Philippine stocks dropped Monday, snapping a five-day advance as investors cashed in amid lingering political concerns and soaring oil prices.
The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange Index closed down 6.46 points, or 0.3 percent, at 2,004.71 after gaining 6 percent over the past five trading days.
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The broader All Shares Index lost 3.65 points to end at 1,212.87. Losers beat gainers 35 to 30, with 50 issues unchanged. Except for the mining and oil sectors, which continued to gain, all other sectoral indicators retreated.
"This is a correction spurred by lingering political concerns and rising oil prices," said Jose Vistan, research head at AB Capital Securities.
Congressional hearings on alleged wiretapped conversations between President Gloria Arroyo and an election official to rig last year's elections start Tuesday. The opposition said it also will kick off several days of protests.
Leading losers were interest rate-sensitive property stocks Ayala Land and SM Prime Holdings. Ayala Land lost 1.2 percent to end at 8.10 pesos, while SM Prime was down 1.2 percent at 8 pesos.
Gains by telecommunications concerns Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom Inc. moderated the market losses. Globe was granted Friday a license by regulators to provide fixed-line services nationwide, which was seen as a good sign for growth of fixed-line services, a sluggish segment of the telecom industry.
PLDT rose 0.6 percent to 1,615 pesos, while Globe advanced 0.6 percent to 830 pesos.
The peso continued its fall for the eighth consecutive session, closing at a new five-month low against the U.S. dollar.
The dollar ended at 55.745 pesos on the Philippine Dealing System, up from 55.475 Friday and its highest close since 55.910 on Jan. 12. Volume rose to US$383 million from US$319 million Friday.
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