Philippine stocks close lower

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market dived along with the rest of Asia on rumors that the US Federal Reserve might start tightening its monetary policy.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index slipped by 0.96 percent or 70.69 points to 7,314.38. The broader all-share index shed 1.08 percent or 48.78 points to 4,485.42.

Trading volume reached 2.01 billion shares worth P12.14 billion ($292 million) with 148 stocks declining, 33 advancing, and 34 unchanged.

All six counters were down.

"The Philippine index finished in the red, dropping along with the whole Asian region on speculation that US Federal Reserve will start tightening its monetary policy amid a recovering U.S. economy," DBP-Daiwa Securities, Inc. said in its daily stock market.

The brokerage said this has raised the possibility of outflow of funds from the region.

Online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said there were attempts to cross 7,400 psychological resistance as some participants continue to hunt for good bargains.

However, this was capped by majority of the investors who opted to lock-in gains on the upside.    

"Fund managers might (continue to) take time to digest the US Federal Reserve's position over its stimulus measures, following mixed sentiments on the matter," the online brokerage said.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly down. These issues include SM Investments Corp., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., and Alliance Global Group, Inc.

In other corporate news, conglomerate San Miguel Corp. plans to invest $750 million in Northern Cement Corp. Ramon S. Ang, president and chief operating officer at SMC, said the additional funds will be used to build a new cement manufacturing line in its plant in Pangasinan province.

Ang said SMC is "very bullish" on the cement manufacturing business considering the huge upside seen for the industry over the long haul. He said the per capita consumption of cement in the region is about 1,000 kg versus, while Philippine per capita consumption is only 170 kg.