Roundup: Philippine bourse close lower before statement of Fed

The Philippine stock market further declined on Wednesday, mirroring mostly the movement of the neighboring equities, as investors anticipate the decision of the U.S. Federal Reserves.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 0.77 percent or 61.10 points to 7,825.47, while the broader all-share index slipped by 0.61 percent or 27.75 points to 4,496.22.

Trading volume reached 1.42 billion shares worth 9.66 billion Philippine pesos (218.10 million U.S. dollars) with 105 stocks declining, 78 advancing, and 49 were unchanged.

All six counters were down.

Equities across Asia were mostly down as investors took haven before a Federal Reserve policy statement expected to conclude on Wednesday, U.S. time.

While investors do not expect and immediate increase in rates, most still preferred to take the safer stand.

The successive declines of the market, nevertheless, could be a welcome move.

"We would probably want the index to settle a bit and form a new base before making another move, which hopefully would be towards the upside," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment.

"This will give investors time to catch their breath after the pummeling of the last two weeks and regain their confidence," he said.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly down. These include SM Prime Holdings, Inc., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., and SM Investments Corp. Endi