Stock market retreats; Ayala, BDO top gainers

STOCKS retreated Thursday as renewed fears the US Federal Reserve will lift interest rates next week sent most markets into reverse, tracking losses across Wall Street and Europe, while traders were looking for measures from China to boost growth.

The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 25 points, or 0.39 percent, to close at 6,539.36, as all six subsectors ended in the red.

The index representing all shares also lost 10 points, or 0.31 percent, to settle at 3,484.71 on a value turnover of P3.86

WhatsApp launches new offering: one-to-many broadcasting

SAN FRANCISCO, USA—WhatsApp on Thursday began letting select organizations try a new feature called “Channels” that lets them broadcast to followers on the popular, Meta-owned messaging service.

The debut comes as an array of agencies and organizations grow disenchanted with Elon Musk-owned Twitter in the face of fees, performance problems and dramatically scaled-back content moderation.

Meta described Channels as “a simple, reliable and private way to receive important updates from people and organizations, right within WhatsApp.”

A video shared by Meta showed the potential for Channels to keep people up to date on race results, soccer match outcomes, weather, and traffic, and even share cooking or home repair tips.

“We think the time is finally right to introduce a simple, reliable, and private broadcast tool,” Meta said in a post.

Meta said WhatsApp’s priority will continue to be private messaging, but that users have been asking for a feature like Channels for years.

WhatsApp is known for encryption that protects against snooping.

More than two billion people around the world use WhatsApp, according to the platform.

Meta said it is exploring the option of making encrypted channels available for groups such as nonprofits or health organizations where that level of security might be needed.

Channels was described as a one-way broadcast tool that lets account administrators sent text, photos, videos, stickers and polls.

Global launch partners include the International Rescue Committee and the World Health Organization as well as the FC Barcelona and Manchester City football clubs, according to Meta. AFP billion. Losers outmatched gainers, 105 to 69, while 51 issues were unchanged.

Only three of the 10 most active stocks ended in the green, led by Ayala Corp. which rose 0.45 percent to P677.00. BDO Unibank Inc. gained 0.29 percent to P137.80, while AgriNurture Inc. added 0.14 percent to finish at P7.21.

The peso closed lower at 56.11 against the US dollar, compared to 56.09 Wednesday.

Most Asian equities markets also traded lower. Equities have enjoyed a broadly healthy run-up so far this month as recent data suggested the US economy was holding up after 10 straight rate hikes but the Fed had enough room to skip another increase this month.

However, a surprise lift by the Bank of Canada on Wednesday -- a day after Australia lifted rates to an 11-year high -- dealt a blow to those hopes and reminded investors that more work was still needed to fight still-too-high inflation.

The Fed’s June 14 decision comes just after the release of figures on the consumer price index, which could play a major part in policymakers’ thoughts, with the board still split on whether or not to pause.

“Canada’s central bank is viewed as one of the leaders when it comes to being proactive with monetary policy,” said OANDA’s Edward Moya.

“They were the first to raise rates in 2022 and then put them on hold earlier this year. The BOC is signaling that more rate hikes could come and that has everyone rethinking that the Fed will be done after the July hike.”

The news compounded the already gloomy mood on trading floors following weak trade data out of China and the United States as well as subdued German industrial production. With AFP

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11. Adjournment

Only stockholders of record as of 10 June 2023 are entitled to notice and to vote at this meeting.

For the health and safety of the stockholders and all persons in light of the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company will not hold a physical meeting and will instead conduct the meeting via Zoom webinar. Stockholders can therefore only attend and participate in the meeting by remote communication. Stockholders also have the option to vote in absentia or appoint the Chairman as proxy. The meeting will be presided by the Chairman in the Principal Office of the Company at Brgy. Ungka, Jaro, Iloilo City. Stockholders who intend to attend by remote communication shall inform the Company by email to corpsec@apmciloilo.comon or before 23 June 2023 subject to the procedure set in the Information Statement which will be posted in the Company’s website www.apmc-iloilo.com.In the same website, stockholders may access the following: (a) Minutes of the Meeting on 29 September 2022 and (b) Proxy Form for Attendance at Meeting and other meeting documents required under Section 49 of the Revised Corporation Code. The link for the Zoom webinar will be sent to the email address of the stockholders who registered to attend via remote communication.

To those who would opt to participate by voting through the Chairman as proxy, the deadline for submission of proxies will be at 5:00 pm of 23 June 2023.

Those who are unable to join the meeting via remote communication but wish to vote on items in the agenda may appoint the Chairman as proxy with specific voting instructions which will be duly counted. Proxies can be submitted to the Office of the Corporate Secretary or via email to the aforementioned address.

For individual stockholders, the submission must be accompanied by a copy of a government-issued ID as proof of identification. For corporations, the submission must be accompanied by a certification from its Corporate Secretary stating the corporate officer’s authority to represent and sign on behalf of the corporation. Kindly submit to the Office of the Corporate Secretary the original signed and notarized documents within a reasonable time after the resumption of regular business operations.

During the meeting, the Company shall entertain questions and comments from the stockholders after the presentation of the Annual Report. Questions which were not answered during the meeting shall be forwarded to the Office of the Corporate Secretary for the appropriate response via email.

For ASM-related queries, you may send an email to corpsec@apmciloilo.com or contact the Office of the Corporate Secretary at 3215748, 09292703169 and 09452331438. For concerns regarding shareholdings, please contact Toni Dinah Cheer D. Fernandez of the Investor Relations Office at 3215748, 09292703169 and 09452331438 or via email directly to corpsec@apmciloilo.com