NEWSFLASH

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PESO FALL, HIGH INTEREST KILLING STOCKS

Manila, Oct. 8, 1997 - The stock market has fallen 5.4% in two days, prompting analysts to call the period "the darkest hour" and sending investors on a selling spree of banks and property stocks.

The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index dropped 40.61 points to close at 1,920.63, or a slide of 2.07 percent. Monday's loss was 3.33 percent.

Volume turnover rose to 1.637 billion shares valued at P1.399 billion.

Al Rillo, economist of DBS Securities, told the Bulletin that the fall was "basically a combination of concern about the peso volatility and high interest rates.

Treasury bills reached a record 20% interest yesterday, the highest in five years.

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