Philippines shares lower

Philippine share prices closed 0.17 percent lower on Thursday, tracking Wall Street, dealers said. The composite index lost 4.90 points to 2.803.31 while the all-shares index fell 0.20 percent to 1.790.02. Turnover was moderate with 3.541 billion shares worth 2.722 billion pesos (55.74 million dollars). There were 58 gainers against 51 losers, while 60 remained unchanged. The local currency traded at 48.831 to the dollar.
She said the local market would likely continue following the lead of Wall Street, which dipped on Wednesday after major indexes fell by about 2.0 percent the previous day. Telecom giant Philippine Long Distance Company fell 0.82 percent to 2,415 pesos, while the Bank of the Philippine Islands fell 1.12 percent to 44 pesos. However top-traded Megaworld Corp remained unchanged at 1.48 pesos while Energy Development Corp gained 3.37 percent to 4.60 pesos.