NEWSFLASH

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PESO SKIDS TO 34.926/$, STOCKS DOWN 68 POINTS

Manila, Oct. 7, 1997 - The peso depreciated yesterday to a weighted average rate of P34.926 to the US dollar from P34.494 last Friday.

There was very little activity in the Philippine Dealing System, where only one transaction of $10 million was made, a far cry from Friday's $182 million.

At the Philippine Stock Exchange, the composite index dipped by 3.4 percent, closing at 1,961 points or 68.43 points lower than Friday.

Turnover was mall, amounting to only P1.1 billion in transactions involving 1.2 billion shares. Friday's dealings totalled two billion shares valued at P1.6 billion.

The slump is attributed to several factors: the tight liquidity situation brought about by high overnight rates, the sharp fall of the peso and rumors of more companies defaulting on their loans.

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