Bourse dips on lack of positive leads

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The stock market failed to muster enough strength to counter profit takers, closing today's session slightly lower.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 0.01 percent, or 0.77 point, to 6,259.55, while the broader all-share index slipped by 0.04 percent, or 1.52 points, to 3,802.53.

Trading volume reached 3.41 billion shares worth P8.52 billion ($190.89 million) with 92 stocks declining, 64 advancing and 51 were unchanged.

Of the six counters, three bucked the trend - financials, industrials and the mining and oil sectors.

Analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said investors extended their selling as there weren't enough leads to hold on to.

This, he said, was validated by Monday's performance where the index initially stayed positive throughout the session but eventually pulled back and weighed in on the opposite side of the trades.

"A fall in U.S. stocks at the close of last week and the jittery Asian sessions negated optimism," he said.

Calaycay noted that since the December bottom at 5,762.53, the composite index has already added a total of 590.23 points, or 10. 24 percent, to the current year's highest close at 6,532.76, posted last Feb. 20.

"The retreat over the last two sessions however has wiped out a little over a tenth of the most recent rally pulling the index a little less than 1 percent below the recent peak," he said.

Nevertheless, Calaycay said technical indicators remain positive even if foreign fund have already shifted gears, with foreign investors selling their positions.

Stocks in the 30-company index closed mixed. Among those sold down were SM Investments Corp., Jollibee Foods Corp. and Ayala Land, Inc.