Roundup: Philippine bourse further retreats

The Philippine stock market further retreated on Tuesday, tracking the movement of the U.S. equities.

The local barometer Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 0.43 percent or 33.03 points to 7,728.50, while the broader all-share index slipped by 0.68 percent or 30.43 points to 4,436.39.

Trading volume reached 1.13 billion shares worth 9.13 billion Philippine pesos (204.20 million U.S. dollars) with 161 stocks declining, 31 advancing, and 37 were unchanged.

All six counters were down.

"Flat trading with a downward bias may persist in the local equities market after U.S. Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen's [ hints on interest rates]," online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said in its daily stock market comment.

Yellen left hints of the possibility of raising interest rates if the U.S. economy continues to improve.

This, she said, was in line with the Federal Reserve's expectations.

The statement sent most equities tumbling lower with the Dow Jones industrial average index slashing off 53.72 points off its value.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly down. Investors dumped shares of Megaworld Corp., BDO Unibank, Inc., and heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. Endi