Philippines share prices closed 1.71 percent lower on Friday as further losses in Philippine Long Distance Telephone dragged the main index down below the 2,300-point support level, dealers said.
They said cautious investors had cut their positions, with no strong leads to trade on as they awaited a speech by US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke later in the day. The composite index finished 39.56 points down at 2,274.53. It moved between 2,273.13 and 2,314.09.
The broader all-shares index fell 18.0 points to 1,415.24. Volume traded was 3.99 billion shares worth 1.21 billion pesos (million dollars). Losers outnumbered gainers 60 to 16, with 61 stocks unchanged. The peso traded at 51.45 to the dollar.
"PLDT was the biggest drag on the market. The company's fundamentals are sound and I think some investors are taking profits just because there is no market-moving news," said Astro del Castillo of First Grade Holdings.
Philippine Long Distance or PLDT, the most actively traded stock, fell 55 pesos to 1,890, tracking further losses in its New-York listed American Depository Receipts overnight Thursday. Ayala Land closed 25 centavos lower to 13.25 pesos, while profit-taking continued in rival property firm Megaworld, which fell two centavos to 1.68 pesos, dealers said.
Ayala Corp rose 2.50 pesos to 422.50 after unit Manila Water declared cash dividends on its common and preferred shares. Manila Water rose 10 centavos to nine pesos, having been declared one of the qualified bidders for a stake of 84 percent in Maynilad Water Services Inc San Miguel A shares rose by a peso to 64, while its B shares were steady at 72 pesos.
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