Philippine shares end flat over holiday mood

Shares prices on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) were little changed Tuesday, the first trading day after the long Christmas weekend, with most investors still on vacation. The absence of news to trade on also influenced the “very flat" movement of prices in general, said analyst Prince Yeung of AB Capital Securities Inc. The PSE index slipped 2.05 points or 0.04 percent to 4,163.99. More than 4.461 billion shares valued at P13.167 billion changed hands, according to the PSE market information online at 12:10 p.m. Gainers led losers 73 to 60 with 34 issues unchanged. Most investors are now looking at 2011 in a “cautiously optimistic way, knowing that there would be gains but not as good as this year’s," Yeung said. Trading was mostly focused on selected issues with news-related developments, giving the market a mixed note, traders said. — VS, GMANews.TV