PHL share prices close flat as investors remain cautious

Philippine share prices closed the week flat with a slight negative bias on Friday as players chose to remain on the sidelines despite the Dow Jones posting positive overnight performance. The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index dipped 4.76 points or 0.11 percent to 4,219.58 while the all-shares slipped 2.11 points or 0.07 percent to 2,979.87. Gainers edged out losers, 66 to 60, while 39 stocks closed unchanged. Volume traded reached 1.20 billion shares worth P3.77 billion. The six sectoral indices were split in half with Financials, Holding Firms and Mining & Oil retreating, while Industrial, Property and Services advancing. "...the support level of 4,200 is seen to hold for the main index. Trading activity has dipped this week as foreign woes have weighed heavily on the market. The main index has been range trading since the start of April and it doesn't look like things are about to change," said Prince Anthony Yeung of AB capital in a market noted posted online. Although Wall Street posted its first gain for the first time and snapped a six-day slide overnight, investors remained cautious as economic numbers indicated a slowing US recovery. In Asia, bourses were mixed with Australia, Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand trading in the green, but stock markets in Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Shanghai, among others were trading lower. In the local stock market, four of five most active stocks closed higher. Telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the day's top traded, added P6 or 0.26 percent at P2,300. Holding firm SM Investments Corp. dropped P10 or 1.82 percent to P540. Diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp. rose P0.20 or 0.17 percent to P115. Alliance Global Group Inc., the holding firm of Andrew Tan, gained P0.19 or 1.94 percent at P10. Power distributor Manila Electric Co. climbed P5 or 1.84 percent to P276.40. -- CMA/OMG, GMA News