Roundup: Philippine bourse extends losses ahead of local elections

The Philippine stock market extended its losses on Friday ahead of the local elections.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index declined by 0.11 percent or 7.88 points to 6,991.87, while the broader all-share index managed to sneak a gain of 0.02 percent or 0.94 point to 4,163.06.

Trading volume reached 2.73 billion shares worth 7.27 billion Philippine pesos (154.07 million U.S. dollars) with 80 stocks advancing, 95 declining, and 47 were unchanged.

Two of the six counters bucked the trend. These were the financials and the property sectors.

Online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said the Friday dismal session was brought about by the drop of the index below the 7,000 line.

"The dismal performance was due to heightened anxieties over the outcome of the May 9 elections," it said.

The Philippines will have its national election next week.

Overseas, the online brokerage said some investors remain at bay pending trends at the oil market.

This, it said, was due to the position of the OPEC to abandon its earlier call to freeze production.

"Over-all, another wait-and-see stance is seen, pending the release of more first quarter earnings," it said.

Stocks in the 30-company index finished mixed. Among those sold down were heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and JG Summit Holdings, Inc. Endit