Philippines share prices closed 0.24 percent lower on Thursday amid a rising budget deficit and reduced economic growth prospects, dealers said. The composite index shed 5.01 points to 2,068.30. Decliners led advancers, 54-28, with 50 issues unchanged. The all shares index lost 4.28 points or 0.32 percent to 1,345.27.
Turnover was moderate at 1.58 billion shares worth 1.50 billion pesos (30.77 million dollars). The peso traded at 48.883 to the dollar in the morning, after finishing at 48.730 on Wednesday. The budget deficit in the three months to March more than doubled to 119.7 billion pesos compared with last year, the government said Wednesday, as the economy is battered by slowing revenues.
Alicer put the next support at 2,050 points and immediate resistance at 2,100 points. Globe Telecom fell 1.79 percent to 820 pesos and Megaworld Corp dropped 3.08 percent to 63 centavos. Philippine Long Distance Telephone added 0.93 percent to 2,165 pesos and SM Investments rose 0.44 percent to 228 pesos, cushioning the market's slide.