PHL shares fail to sustain gains, PSEi declines three days straight

Philippine shares failed to sustain gains early in the session Wednesday, prompting the main index to log its third consecutive day of decline. The Philippine Stock Exchange index slipped 6.79 points or 0.18 percent to 3,823.13, while the all shares dipped 3.56 points or 0.13 percent to 2,759.86. However, the market in general was positive with 75 gainers outnumbering 59 losers and 38 stocks that closed unchanged. Four of the six sectoral indices posted gains, led by Mining & Oil's 0.59-percent rise. More than 7 billion shares valued at P6.26 billion were traded. The Euro debt crisis remains the main cause of volatile trading in Philippine shares. "Since the Euro debt crisis still looms over markets, the volatile behavior of major indexes will remain," Maria Arlysa Narciso of AB Capital said in an online market note. “How long this will last is still a question... Meanwhile, the best option at this time is to seek stocks that are defensive in nature and whose performance exceeds that of the index's," she added. — CMA/VS, GMA News