Philippines share prices closed flat on Tuesday as investors chased a few bargains in the face of more losses on Wall Street and crude oil's surge to new record levels, dealers said. The main index moved in and out of negative territory throughout the session as investors remained uneasy despite an ample chance to pick up bargains following sharp declines over the past two days, they said.
The composite index closed up 0.12 points at 2,909.00 points after trading between 2,890.03 and 2,924.25. The broader all-share index fell 6.40 points or 0.4 percent to 1,785.60. There were 54 decliners and 34 advancers, while 44 were steady. Volume amounted to 840.1 million shares valued at 3.4 billion pesos (82.3 million dollars).
The local currency traded at 41.313 to the dollar. "This reflects the tug of war between bargain-hunters and investors nervous about rising inflation and the weakening US economy," said Jonathan Ravelas of Banco de Oro Unibank.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co, the country's biggest company by market value, rose 65 pesos to 2,795, rebounding following two days of losses. Megaworld Corp, the country's second-biggest homebuilder fell 12 centavos to 2.12 pesos.
Food and drinks giant San Miguel Corp's A-shares, reserved for Filipinos, tumbled four pesos to 38.50. Its B-shares, which have no ownership restriction, slid 3.50 to 39.