Philippines share prices closed 0.5 percent lower on Wednesday, as investors worried about rising inflation and Wall Street's continuing volatility, dealers said. Shortly before the opening bell, the government reported that inflation in February jumped to 5.4 percent, the highest since October 2006 and near the top end of forecasts.
The composite index lost 16.07 points to 3,092.65, after moving between 3,090.66 and 3,116.77. A total of 1.2 billion shares valued at 1.9 billion pesos (47.5 million dollars) were traded. There were 57 decliners and 35 advancers, while 62 stocks were steady.
The broader all-share index was down 6.73 points at 1,899.24. Philippine Long Distance Telephone fell 30 pesos to 2,840. Ayala Corp fell 2.50 to 427.50. San Miguel A slid 1.50 to 45.50. Its B shares plunged 3.00 to 47.