Philippines share prices closed 0.34 percent lower on Friday as profit-taking set in after a four-day rally, dealers said. They said the market was due for a correction after four days of gains, as investors had taken account of President Gloria Arroyo's planned lifting of a state of emergency, imposed last week to thwart an alleged coup.
Arroyo formally ended the emergency on Friday shortly before the market's close.
The composite index slipped 7.24 points to 2,130.37 after moving between 2,125.16 and 2,145.96. The all-shares index rose 7.30 points to 1,034.52.
Volume amounted to 1.01 billion shares worth 974.75 million pesos (19.04 million dollars). Gainers beat losers 45 to 39, with 43 stocks unchanged.
The Philippine peso was averaging of 51.187 to the dollar at midday.
"The lifting of the state of emergency should further boost investor confidence as it suggests that the security situation is now stable.
"The market is also convinced that the economic fundamentals remain strong," said Astro del Castillo of First Grade Holdings Inc. "However, we're also due for a correction. We've been up for several days now."
Top-traded Bank of the Philippine Islands fell 50 centavos to 59 pesos while rival Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co retreated 50 centavos to 34 pesos.
Telecom giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co rose 15 pesos to 1,825 pesos but Ayala Land Inc was down 50 centavos at 11 pesos.
Food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp's A shares dropped 50 centavos to 61.50 pesos while its B shares were steady at 83.50 pesos.
Comments
Comments are closed.