Philippines share prices closed 0.26 percent lower on Friday as a lack of leads resulted in mixed trade as some investors opted to take some profits ahead of the weekend, dealers said. Buying in select blue chips like Ayala Corp and SM Investments helped limit the downturn, they added.
The composite index fell 8.27 points to 3,170.05 after trading between 3,141.55 and 3,183.30. The broader all-share index shed 1.44 points to 2,038.09. Despite key indices finishing lower, gainers beat losers 62 to 51, with 51 stocks unchanged.
Volume was 5.2 billion shares worth 3.5 billion pesos (72.64 million dollars). The peso was at 48.179 to the dollar. "The market is taking a breather; investors stayed on the sidelines since the rise in the previous sessions was just too fast," said James Lago of Westlink Global Equities Inc. "The recent gains were due more to strong reactions to Wall Street but there was really no major reason locally that could have sustained the rally," added Lago.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone fell 30 pesos to 2,495 pesos while rival Globe Telecom shed five to 1,290. Conglomerate Ayala Corp gained five to 545 and SM Investments Corp rose 2.50 to 370. Port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc climbed 50 centavos to 27.50 pesos. Food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp's A-shares ended steady at 64 pesos but its B-shares shed 50 centavos to 74 pesos.