Roundup: Philippines bourse closes lower ahead of U.S. payroll data release

The Philippine stock market slid with the rest of Asia as investors await the release of key economic indicators in the United States.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index retreated by 1. 47 percent or 101.96 points to 6,815.59, while the broader all- share index slipped by 0.97 percent or 38.63 points to 3,952.45.

Trading volume reached 959.69 million shares worth 5.71 billion Philippine pesos (121.74 million U.S. dollars) with 116 stocks declining, 60 advancing, and 43 were unchanged.

All six counters were down.

Investors are monitoring closely whether the U.S. economy is strong enough for the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year after the government reported a strong second quarter U. S. GDP data.

Analysts said the focus now is turned to the condition of the U. S. labor market and whether the same is strong enough for the U.S. Fed to raise interest rates. U.S. payroll data will be released on Friday.

As a result, the index failed to sustain its intra-day rally. It opened 5 points higher and touched an intra-day high of 6,928. 68 before sellers took over.

Locally, the local monetary authorities' move to maintain benchmark interest rates plus Fitch's sovereign credit rating upgrade on the Philippines from "stable" to "positive" failed to boost buying interest early this week.

"The local market remains trapped below the 7,000 line as uncertainties mostly coming from overseas take its toll on confidence," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in its daily stock market comment.

2TradeAsia.com advises investors to go for stocks beaten by the recent rout and continue to trade a range.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly sold down. These include Alliance Global Group, Inc., heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., and Globe Telecom, Inc. Endi