PHL shares prices fall, ends two-day gain

Philippine share prices fell on Tuesday, snapping back-to-back gains, as negative developments overseas drove investors to cash in on recent gains, an analyst said. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index slipped 25.8 points or 0.60 percent to 4,305.57 while the all shares slid 19.25 points or 0.61 percent to 3,119.57. Losers led gainers, 84 to 52, while 46 stocks closed unchanged. Save for the industrial sector, all other five sub-indices posted losses. Suffering the worst decline was Mining & oil with a 3.85-percent drop. Volume traded reached 4.476 billion valued at P5.206 billion. "Generally poor numbers from abroad coupled with a pause in the domestic news front left local investors with little choice but to heed technical calls for a breather and book profits made over the last two sessions," said trader Justino Calaycay Jr. in a market note for Accord Capital. The bearish session came following the dismal overnight performance of the Dow Jones, which fell by as much as 60 points, the widening US credit default swaps and the cut in the earnings forecast of firms. Although oil prices marginally declined, Calaycay noted that the violence in the Middle East continues to escalate, further threatening global supplies of crude. Alliance Global Group Inc., the holding firm of businessman Andrew Tan and the day’s top traded issue, shed P0.04 or 0.34 percent at P11.80. The "A" shares of Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. lost P0.07 or 10.45 percent at P0.60. Telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. fell P4 or 0.16 percent to P2,456. Low-cost carrier Cebu Air Inc. dipped P0.95 or 1.21 percent to P77.45. DMCI Holdings Inc., the holding firm of the Consunji family, retreated P0.50 or 1.05 percent to P47. -- CMA/OMG, GMA News