Stocks fall for 3rd straight day on timid trades

MANILA, Philippines - Local share prices closed in the red for the third straight day in the absence of positive news and continued market consolidation ahead of the release of a key economic data.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index slipped 0.15 percent or 10.16 points to close at 6,780.26 yesterday while the broader All Shares index fell 0.08 percent or 3.23 points to 4,050.28.

“Market ended on the red side on continued profit-taking as investors opted to stay on the sidelines in anticipation of the [first quarter] gross domestic product data,” said Joyce Ramos, analyst at AB Capital Securities Inc.

She said a disappointing economic data could pull the main index close to the 6,700 support level.

US markets were closed Monday due to the Memorial Day holiday. Without any strong buying leads, Asian stocks generally dropped yesterday.

At home, local counters were mixed. The advancers were led by mining and oil that rebounded 0.50 percent or 77.46 points to 15,709.10. Industrial companies led the decliners as it eased 0.28 percent or 28.82 points to end at 10,305.28.

Trading was timid, with turnover value hitting P5.37 billion, down from P7.21 billion on Monday. Losers outpaced gainers, 96 to 72, while 46 stocks did not change.

Most active shares were in the negative territory, led by PLDT (-0.21 percent), Ayala Land Inc. (-0.31 percent) and BDO Unibank Inc. (-0.06 percent). But firms of tycoon Andrew L. Tan like top-traded Megaworld Corp. (+0.66 percent) and Emperador Inc. (+3.14 percent) closed higher.