Philippine shares flat as investors remain wary

Philippine share prices barely moved on Friday after investors remained wary about developments in the presidential and vice presidential count as well as Wall Street's overnight slump. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished 2.73 points or 0.08 percent higher at 3,330.42. The broader all-share index also gained 8.54 points or 0.41 percent to close at 2.089.08. "This flat performance is because of the absence of any impetus to move the market [up]. But the good thing is that we were able to sustain the 3,300 mark even in the face of Dow Jones's loss last night. And there is still uncertainty with the vice presidency," analyst Justino Calaycay, Jr. of Accord Capital Equities told GMANews.TV. Calaycay added that investors are also getting wary of news that former President Estrada's camp has found irregularities in the poll count and vowed to reveal them soon. Cautious trading, he said, might continue until the proclamation on June 30. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged by 113.96 points overnight, while the NASDAQ compsite and Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 30.66 and 14.23 points, respectively. On the local front, half of the six subindices advanced, led by financial stocks which finished 1.64 percent or 11.58 points higher at 718.22. Holding Firms likewise gained 0.75 percent or 16.03 points to close at 2,156.37, while industrial firms inched up by 0.06 percent or 3.26 points to 5,150.5. Bucking the trend were mining and oil stocks, which shed 1.06 percent or 93.92 points, closing at 8,790.56. Service stocks lost 0.4 percent or 5.95 points to 1,497.78, while property stocks went down by 0.12 percent or 1.51 points, finishing at 1,262.23. Volume turnover was at 2.4 billion stocks worth P3.5 billion, where 65 stocks advanced, 49 lost, and 62 were unchanged. Top gainer Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. P1.70 to close at P7, while top loser Makati Finance Corp. 26 centavos to P1.12. Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the most traded stock, finished P10 higher to finish at P2,505. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV