Local share prices flat ahead of Fed meeting

(UPDATED) Investors stayed on the sidelines a day ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate-setting meeting, with the Philippine Stock Exchange index closing flat for the second straight session this week. The composite index gained 0.27 percent or 8.34 points to 3,085.13, with five of the six subindices rising by less than a percent. "Investors were very cautious, although we observed some last-minute buying," analyst Jasper Jimenez of Banco De Oro Securities said, tracing the market’s dull movement to the absence of any fresh news on the local and international fronts. He added that market caution would likely prevail for the rest of the week. US stocks finished with mixed results, with the Dow Jones industrial average gaining 17.46 points and the Standard and Poor's 500 index adding 0.52 point. The NASDAQ composite, however, shed 5.45 points. Reflecting the flat performance of the local index, 73 stocks were unchanged, while losers beat gainers 51 to 49. A total of 780.54 million stocks worth P2.65 billion were traded. Property stocks led the five subindices, inching up by 0.94 percent or 9.96 points to 1,074.67. Industrial shares also rose by 0.53 percent or 25.11 points to 4,753.28, while holding firms closed 0.28 percent or 5.08 points higher at 1,849.81. Financial stocks likewise added 0.19 percent or 1.21 points to 649.44, while mining and oil firms added 0.28 point or less than 0.01 percent to finish at 9,227.61. The service index bucked the trend, shedding 0.19 percent or 2.77 points to 1,480.95. The day’s biggest loser, Cebu Property Venture and Development’s B stocks, shed 9.47 percent to P1.72 apiece. On the other hand, Benguet Corporation’s B stocks were the biggest gainer, rising by almost half to P16 apiece. Abotiz Equity Ventures, Inc., the day’s most traded stock, gained 50 centavos to P14, while Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. was unchanged at P45.50. Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. closed P5 lower at P2,535. — Nikka Corsino/NPA, GMANews.TV