Philippine share prices closed 1.36 percent lower on Tuesday with Wall Street's sharp retreat overnight providing an excuse to take profits, dealers said.
However, they said the market's decline was healthy and buyers could resurface should the gross domestic product (GDP) data for the three months to September, due out Wednesday, spring a positive surprise. The composite index fell 38.42 points to 2,779.14, after moving between 2,758.78 and 2,817.56.
The broader all-share index fell 21.68 points to 1,738.20. Losers overwhelmed gainers 86 to 18 with 51 unchanged. Turnover totalled 2.23 billion shares worth 2.58 billion pesos (51.82 million dollars). The peso traded at 49.79 to the dollar "It's just a normal correction that provides investors with a fresh buying opportunity," Ron Rodrigo of Unicapital Securities said.
"Any positive surprises from tomorrow's GDP report may encourage bargain-hunters to come in." Dennis Arroyo, director for planning and policy at the government's economic planning ministry, said last week that annual economic growth for the third quarter was likely to come in at between 5.2 and 5.8 percent, supported by better farm output. He added that the economy would likely sustain the growth momentum in the last three months of the year amid strong exports and brisk remittances from Filipinos working abroad which fuel domestic demand. Rodrigo said the market may see further corrections along the way.
"But we're optimistic that the market will continue to be on the upside and we expect another push before the year ends given the bullish outlook for the economy," he added.
Among the day's losers include property developer Megaworld, the most actively traded stock, which fell six centavos to 2.06 pesos. Philippine Long Distance Telephone, or PLDT, was down 60 pesos to 2,445 pesos. San Miguel A was unchanged at 65 pesos, but its B shares fell 50 centavos to 74 pesos.
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