Roundup: Philippine bourse extends loses over fear of higher interest rates

The Philippine stock market extended its loses on Friday over fear of higher interest rates.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index dived by 1.73 percent or 128.30 points to 7,299.03, while the broader all-share index lost 0.85 percent or 37.79 points to 4,385.98.

Trading volume reached 1.75 billion shares worth 7.21 billion Philippine pesos (154.24 million U.S. dollars) with 140 stocks declining, 56 advancing, and 42 were unchanged.

Of the six counters, only the mining and oil sector bucked the trend.

"The index dipped this week as investors shunned away from risky assets after the US Federal Reserves set a hawking tone last Wednesday," AB Capital Securities, Inc. said in its weekly cap.

The minutes of the US Federal Reserves show that policymakers may raise interest rates in June if second quarter economic data continues to strengthen.

Locally, the Philippine central bank has also announced a formal shift in its monetary operations to an interest rate corridor system starting June 3.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly down. These include SM Prime Holdings, Inc., Ayala Land, Inc., and Ayala Corp. Endit