Index ends flat on lack of leads

MANILA, Philippines - Local share prices ended flat yesterday due to the absence of strong buying leads.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index barely changed, inching up 0.09 percent or 6.04 points to 6,603.60, closing near the intraday low of 6,597.56. The broader all share index slightly fell 0.03 percent or 1.16 points to 3,981.07.

“Not much news flow to push the market higher,” said BPITrade.com director Richard Anthony Liboro.

The local market mirrored the movements in Wall Street, which was flat ahead of the release of the already delayed jobs data.

The Dow Jones industrial average slightly fell 0.05 percent or 7.45 points to 15,392.01, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index barely rose 0.01 percent or 0.14 points to 1,744.64.

Asian markets were mixed as investors awaited more leads. Japan’s Nikkei 225 picked up 0.13 percent or 19.68 points to 14,713.25, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.52 percent or 122.16 points to 23,315.99.

Locally, most counters were in the green, led by mining and oil that climbed 1.4 percent or 179.44 points to 13,041.66. But holding firms retreated 0.52 percent or 31.41 points to 5,979.63.

The value of shares traded slightly eased to P7.57 billion from P7.98 billion on Monday. Decliners again narrowly outplayed advancers, 79 to 75, while 44 stocks did not change.

Most active shares were in the red, paced by Ayala Land Inc. (-0.16 percent) and LT Group Inc. (-0.61 percent). Index heavyweight PLDT (+1.2 percent) and second most-traded Universal Robina Corp. (+1.65 percent) posted gains.