PhL stocks retreat under influence of poor US performance

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market again fell below the 6,600 level after the US equities failed to sustain its rally.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index dived by 0.63 percent or 41.93 points to 6,596.96, while the broader all-share index retreated by 0.37 percent or 14.93 points to 3,977.72.

Trading volume reached 1.31 billion shares worth P8.29 billion ($186.81 million) with 103 stocks declining, 75 advancing, and 45 were unchanged.

Of the six counters, only the mining and oil sectors bucked the trend.

"Tracking the mixed reception of external headwinds during the shortened trading week, the local market trimmed gains after sailing toward its eight-month high," Abbygayle M. Estrella of AB Capital Securities, Inc. said in her daily stock market comment.

On Thursday, investors dumped their shares sending the Dow Jones industrial average index to one of its worst performances as it shed off 266.96 points from its value.

US markets dipped from the green to red territories as the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve assuaged investors on speculated immediate rate hikes but gains were reversed by trepidation on the nearing earnings season.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) was unanimous in dropping the unemployment rate as their gauge for implementing monetary tightening, which Fed Chairman Janet Yellen referred the 6.5 percent target as an "outdated" indicator for them to call the shots.

The world's second biggest economy, on the other hand, disappointed on its recent economic figures. China trade data for the month of March trudged by -6.6 percent and -11.3 percent for exports and imports, respectively.

"Next week will bring weighty catalysts for global markets as the US CPI and China's first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) are scheduled to be released, along with both countries' retail sales and China industrial production data,"  Estrella said.

Despite Friday's performance, the local equities nevertheless managed to keep 35.76 points and avoid closing the week negatively.

Stocks in the 30-company index mostly closed the session in the negative. These include heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Ayala Land, Inc.