Philippine stocks extend lower

The Philippine stock market closed lower on Wednesday after the release of Philippines' inflation data. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 0.48 percent or 25.06 points to 5,150.81. The broader all-share index retreated by 0.43 percent or 14.67 points to 3,424.36. Total volume reached 1.86 billion shares worth 3.25 billion pesos (77.3 million U.S. dollars) with 86 stocks declining, 55 issues advancing and 52 were unchanged. The Philippines reported that inflation for the month of August reached a seven-month high or 3.8 percent. The uptick was due to increase in food, housing, water, electricity and fuel. "Despite the increase, the central bank deems it unnecessary to revise the full year inflation target," analyst Maria Arlysa E. Narciso said. The figure is at the high end of the central bank's forecast range of 2.9 to 3.8 percent. The local central bank will hold a monetary policy meeting next week. Narciso said she expects interest rates to be held steady and support growth in spite of this increase in consumer prices. HSBC Economist Trinh Nguyen said the central bank will have to consider a few things in the next policy meet. These include rising global prices amid sluggish growth momentum, the actions of the U.S. Federal Reserve and the possible weakness in external demand. "While these other considerations matter, the higher-than- expected headline inflation August number will motivate monetary officials to keep rates on hold," she said. Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly down. Megaworld Corp. , Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. and SM Investments Corp. closed lower.