Philippine stock market lost 9% in January 2008

If you placed money in the Philippine stock market from the beginning of January this year, you would have already lost 9% by now. That translates to a million pesos worth only P910,000 as of January 31.

That is based on the performance of the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi), a basket of 30 listed common stocks representing the overall movement of market prices and the general state of the Philippine economy.

On January 31, the PSEi closed at 3,294.08, down 9.04% compared to its original level at the start of the year. Badly hit were the Mining and Oil sector which lost 15.12% and the Holding Firms sector which declined in value by 14.74%.

The PSEi lost 9% of its value in January 2008 alone.

Euro Stocks Lower as Pharmas and Banks Sink

European stocks slipped into territory Friday afternoon, tracking U.S. futures and with declining pharmaceuticals and banks dragging on the major indexes.

U.S. stock index futures lost their positive bias, with fears of a U.S. recession returning to the market.

In Asia, many investors were away for the Lunar New Year. Japan fell 1.4 percent in a quiet session and Australia finished 1.1 percent higher, in thin volumes.

GlaxoSmithKline was one of the lead losers on the FTSE-100, with declines of 2.9 percent, as the London-listed drug maker was downgraded by Fitch Ratings after it warned on 2008 earnings Thursday. Sanofi-Aventis and Merck were also lower.

Fears over the health of the U.S. economy and the spreading of the credit crunch still remained a key concern, with some analysts saying any recovery is likely to be short-lived. 'The fundamental themes are still there, still a lack of confidence in economic figures and also increasingly in the corporate figures, with the likes of Glaxo,' Justin Urquhart Stewart, a director at 7 Investment Management, told Reuters. 'Any rebound we see today is going to be pretty thin stuff without much backbone.' Basic resources, financial services and technology stocks were the stars of Europe's Friday morning rally, rising more than 2 percent.

Alcatel Lucent's shares rose more than 2 percent despite the fact that it gave a grim outlook and suspended its dividend.

Construction group Sacyr Vallehermoso rose 4.2 percent after a newspaper report that a French-backed group of banks and insurers were in talks to buy its one third stake in Eiffage.

French construction group Lafarge rose 3.4 percent after a newspaper report said investment group GBL may raise its stake to 18 percent and possibly to 25 percent.

The rise in crude oil futures helped push up shares in BP, Total and Royal Dutch Shell, which rose between 0.6 and 1.4 percent.