Philippines share prices closed 0.5 percent higher on Tuesday on last-minute buying but volumes remained thin amid anxiety over high crude oil prices and inflationary pressure, dealers said. Investors were also reluctant to take fresh positions while waiting for the resumption of trading on Wall Street and the release on Thursday of Philippine gross domestic product data.
The composite index rose 15.46 points to 2,855.98, its highest level for the day.The all-share index was up 7.32 points or 0.4 percent at 1,756.20. Turnover remained lean at 1.8 billion pesos (41.2 million dollars) compared to Monday's 1.7 billion pesos. There were 56 advancers and 37 decliners, while 63 stocks were flat. The local currency traded at 43.696 to the dollar.
Despite gains in conglomerate Ayala Corp and Lepanto Mining, Lawrence de Leon of Accord Capital Equities said "trading was generally cautious." "The outlook for the market remains dim due to the heavy weight oil prices are putting on the economy," said Maria Arlysa Narciso of AB Capital Securities.
Ayala Corp rose 1.5 percent to 350 pesos on bargain hunting. Index leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT), the country's biggest company by market value, was unchanged at 2,645 pesos. Manila Electric Co (Meralco) closed steady at 63 pesos after rising as high as 65.50 pesos.
Meralco's annual stockholders' meeting was halted on Tuesday as two of its major shareholders continued to tussle over management control of the country's biggest power distributor.Food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp's A-shares were flat at 42.50 pesos while its B-shares were unchanged 44.00 pesos.
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