PSEi ends flat despite big gains in US markets

Despite the huge overnight gains in US stocks, Philippine share prices closed flat on Wednesday. The benchmark 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index slid 8.94 points or 0.20 percent to 4,366.45 while the all shares climbed 2.30 points or 0.08 percent to 3,014.02. Gainers led losers, 80 to 63, while 44 stocks closed unchanged. Except for Services, which dropped 2.21 percent, all other sectoral indices closed in the green, gaining between 0.04 percent and 0.95 percent. Volume traded reached 7.36 billion shares valued at about P7.30 billion. Overnight, Wall Street rallied with the Dow posting its best gain in two weeks with a 2.97-percent upswing, while Nasdaq surged 4.29 percent. Asian markets, however, were trading mixed as of mid-session Wednesday. Main indices in Australia, Shanghai, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and New Zealand were trading higher, while those in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were trading lower. "The PSEi has been held down lately on news of weaknesses in the major markets particularly US and Europe. Locally, expected economic data are not so strong but remain within the positive side...Other than the push of some index heavyweights, external factors will still drive the market's direction," said Maria Arlysa Narciso of AB Capital in a market note posted online. Global markets have been in a roller-coaster ride of wild declines and hefty gains following Standard & Poor's credit rating downgrade of the US and the lingering debt crisis in the Eurozone, raising fears of another global economic crisis. In the local bourse, four of the five most active stocks advanced. Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. "A", the day's top traded, jumped P0.02 or 1.13 percent to P1.79. Port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. slipped P0.40 or 0.79 percent to P50.10. Alternative power producer Energy Development Corp. leaped P0.15 pr 2.5 percent to P6.15. Manila Mining Corp. "A" rose P0.004 or 5.33 percent to P0.079. Boulevard Holdings Inc. added P0.065 or 18.31 percent at P0.42. --CMA/OMG, GMA News