Philippines share prices closed 1.71 percent lower on Monday on profit-taking, dealers said. The composite index fell 49.10 points to close at 2,821.73. The all-shares index shed 1.2 percent, or 22.28 points, to close at 1,800.66. A total of 4.68 million shares worth 2.91 billion pesos (60.11 million dollars) changed hands. Decliners led gainers 79 to 27, while 55 issues closed unchanged.
The peso averaged 48.41 to the US dollar in morning trade. "The market was up in recent days, so it's time to take a breather," Joey Roxas of Eagle Equities told Dow Jones Newswires, adding that the market remained in a "consolidation mode." Among the day's losers were Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co, which shed 0.8 percent to close at 2,405 pesos and Ayala Land Inc which closed 2.2 percent down at 11.00 pesos.