Philippines share prices closed 0.32 percent lower on Monday, ending a five-day rally on profit-taking as record high oil prices and continuing political concerns encouraged caution, dealers said. At the same time, sustained interest in Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) and Globe Telecom limited the losses, they said.
The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index lost 6.46 points at 2,004.71, having traded between 1,999.63 and 2,014.52. Turnover reached 882.5 million shares worth 751.24 million pesos (13.5 million dollars).
The broader all-shares index fell 3.65 points to 1,212.87. Losers led gainers 35 to 30, with 50 stocks unchanged.
Dealers said investors cashed in on recent gains, using political concerns sparked by vote rigging and corruption allegations against President Gloria Arroyo and her family as the excuse.
"Investors are looking for signs on how the ongoing political side-show will turn out. Notwithstanding, our sense is that the market is not particularly concerned about the issues but rather irritated by it," said Jose Vistan of AB Capital Securities.
Dealers said the market was due for a correction after rising for five straight sessions.
Citiseconline.com's Mark Alan Canizares said the market is pausing after recent gains but added that some stocks are still deemed attractive despite their recent run-up. With oil prices hitting record highs in Asian trade, Vistan said the market was likely to tread water this week following its strong recovery last week.
Top-traded PLDT rose 10 pesos to 1,615, while Globe Telecom gained five pesos to 830. Ayala Corp fell 10 pesos to 350, while unit Ayala Land declined 10 centavos to 8.10 pesos. SM Prime Holdings retreated 10 centavos to eight pesos.
San Miguel A, limited to Filipino investors, fell 50 centavos to 59 pesos while San Miguel B, available to foreign investors, was unchanged at 92.50 pesos.