NEWSFLASH

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SUPREME COURT OIL LAW RULE UPSETS SHARES, PESO

Manila, Nov. 7, 1997 - The Philippine stock market and currency both wavered in early trading yesterday in reaction to the unexpected Supreme Court ruling declaring the oil deregulation law unconstitutional.

But the fears subsided towards the end of the day, allowing the Philippine Stock Exchange index to close at 1,893.06 points, or just 0.40% lower than Wednesday's closing. It was the first time in five days that shares fell.

The peso weakened to P34.80 by midday, down from Wednesday's close of P34.70. It settled at P34.927/dollar.

In the stock market, the major loser was Petron Corp, falling more than 12 percent, or by 50 centavos, to a historic low of P3.55. PLDT lost P15 to close at P885, a direct effect of the PLDT shares drop in the New York Stock Exchange.

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