RP stocks steady, track flat performance on Wall Street

Local share prices barely moved on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street’s flat performance overnight. The Philippine Stock Exchange index added 0.4 percent or 12.37 points to 3,107.35, with volume inching up a bit to 923.66 million shares worth P3.17 billion. Despite the slight rise, losers beat gainers 60 to 53, while 62 stocks were unchanged. US stocks ended mixed on Monday after a new round of mergers and acquisitions raised some hope for the economy, but its composite index broke a streak of six straight advances. The Dow Jones industrial average fell by 0.1 percent or 13.68 points to 10,552.52, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped by 0.20 point or less than 0.1 percent to 1,138.50. On the local front, four of the six subindices rose, led by holding firms, which went up by 1.43 percent or 25.31 points to 1,794.2. Industrial stocks also advanced by 1.18 percent or 55.33 points to 4,740.6, while property companies gained 0.7 percent or 7.41 points to 1,067.21. Services added 0.02 point or less than 0.01 percent to 1,550.92. On the other hand, mining and oil stocks tumbled by 2.44 percent or 234.98 points to 9,376.56, while financial shares shed 0.1 percent or 0.66 point to finish at 653.15. Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. was flat at P2,675, and so was Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. at P45.50. Aboitiz Power Corp. gained 75 centavos to P11.75, while Ayala Land, Inc., which reported a profit decline for last year, added 25 centavos to P11.25. Philex Mining Corp., whose profits dipped last year despite rising metal prices, dropped by 50 centavos to P13.50, while Ayala Corp., which announced flat income growth for last year, slid by P2.50 to P297.50. — Norman P. Aquino, GMANews.TV