MANILA, May 25 (PNA) — Share prices at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) fell for a third day in the absence of new leads ahead of the release of the country’s first-quarter economic output.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 48.64 points to 7,761.53 Monday from Friday’s 7,810.17 close.
In a report, brokerage firm Accord Capital Equities Corp. said lack of leads can be addressed by the release of first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) this Thursday.
”There appears to be a growing consensus that the domestic economy expanded at a better-than-decent, better-than-average, and definitely better-than-last year’s pace. If the number do come out as expected, the market will have something fresh to chew on – more so if it pulls a surprise. The inverse, of course, is equally true,” it said.
All counters were in the negative territory, led by services that declined 1.10 percent.
Volume of transactions reached 683.58 million valued at Php6.93 billion.
Decliners swamped advancers, 115 to 53, while 56 issues were unchanged.
The day’s top active stocks were led by Universal Robina Corp., Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company, Ayala Corp., Jollibee Foods Corp. and Megaworld Corp. (PNA)