Roundup: Philippine bourse closes lower on fear of U.S. interest rate hike

Fears of a U.S. interest rate hike sent the Philippine stock market tumbling along with its neighboring equities on Wednesday.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 0.48 percent or 37.78 points to 7,790.70, while the border all-share index slipped by 0.66 percent or 30.15 points to 4,523.62.

Trading volume reached 2 billion shares worth 8.60 billion Philippine pesos (194.02 million U.S. dollars) with 130 stocks declining, 45 advancing and 47 were unchanged.

All six counters were down, led by the industrial sector.

"The local market took its cue from Wall Street's decline on fears the U.S. Federal Reserves might raise interest rates sooner, " online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said in its daily stock market comment.

The Dow Jones industrial average index tumbled by 332 points Tuesday night.

The online brokerage said large caps sensitive to interest rate movements might be on spotlight in the coming sessions as investors reassess prospects for 2015.

"Caution may continue to rule pending other catalysts this quarter," it added.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly down. These include JG Summit Holdings, Inc. and Metroplitan Bank and Trust Co. although Ayala shares like property giant Ayala Land, Inc. and Ayala Corp. managed to buck the trend. Endi