PSE INDEX HIT BY SALE OF UNLISTED STOCK

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index declined today to 6,882.49 points, down by 60.27 points or 0.87 percent as the market was unnerved by the sale of unlisted shares of high-flying stock Abra Mining and Industrial Corp, whose trading was suspended on account of the sale of its unlisted stocks.

PSE suspended trading of the issue starting at 9 am today following the discovery that the number of the shares that were traded exceeded the number of shares that were listed " in contravention of Philippine Stock Exchange's rule that only securities approved for listing should be lodged with the Philippine Depository and Trust Corp. (PDTC).

Only the industrials, which went up by 0.11 percent, survived the market decline across the board. The financials lost 0.41 percent, holding firms down by 1.16 percent, services by 0.10 percent, mining and oil by 1.97 percent, and property down by 1.29 percent.

Value turnover was a dismal P4.87 billion as the Abra issue roiled the market with investors awaiting word on the Abra case which could impact heavily on the entry of foreign investors.

Still, there were 110 gainers against 119 losers with 40 shares unchanged with Dito emerging as the most active stock with trades of P486 million as it lost 26 centavos to P15.46.

Market bellwether SM Investments lost a hefty P15 or 1.42 percent to P1,042 while Jollibee Foods rose by P3.70 to P189.70 while Bank stocks. BDO Unibank and Bank of PI posted losses respectively of 70 centavos to P109.70 and 65 centavos to P88.15.

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