PHL share prices end flat despite Wall Street upswing

Philippine share prices closed flat on Tuesday despite Wall Street's overnight upswing. The benchmark 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index inched up 0.7 points or 0.02 percent to 4,289.99 while the all shares retreated 2.88 points or 0.10 percent to 2,983.14. Losers edged out gainers, 63 to 60, while 41 stocks closed unchanged. Four of the six sectoral indices closed in the red, led by Mining & Oil's 1.62-percent drop. Only Financials and Services posted gains. Volume traded reached 2.55 billion shares valued at P5.57 billion. "For this week's market direction, indicators are mixed but leaning to positive," said Claire S. Quiray of Regina Capital in a market outlook posted online. Overnight, both the Dow and Nasdaq closed in the green, gaining 0.91 percent and 1.33 percent, respectively. Asian bourses, on the other hand, weremixed with Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea trading higher, while bourses in Taiwan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, India and Singapore were trading lower. In the local market, three of the five most active stocks for the day advanced. Property giant Ayala Land Inc., the day's top traded, was unmoved at P15.30. Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp. jumped P0.35 or 1.75 to P20.35. Telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Corp. rose P8 or 0.33 percent to P2,400. San Miguel Corp. added P0.20 or 0.17 percent at P113.90. Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. declined P0.04 or 4.25 percent to P0.90. -- CMA/OMG, GMA News