Stocks end lower

Philippine stocks dipped Tuesday as investors locked in profits while awaiting guidance on second-quarter earnings, an analyst said.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed down 0.26 percent, or 17.70 points, to 6,826.61. The broader all-shares index was also down 0.24 percent, or 9.79 points, to 4,096.46.

All subsectors ended lower, save for financial stocks, which gained 0.16 percent. Leading the decline among subsectors were holding companies (0.51 percent), services (down 0.35 percent) and mining and oil (down 0.32 percent).

Jason Escartin, investment analyst at F. Yap Securities/2tradeasia.com, said in a report Tuesday that some investors might have decided to stay on the sidelines while weighing upcoming second-quarter corporate results.

He pegged immediate support levels at 6,800 to 6,820 while resistance was set at 6,870.

A total of 1.86 billion shares changed hands for P4.99 billion, data from the Philippine Stock Exchange showed. There were a total of 101 decliners against 75 advancers while 41 companies closed unchanged.

Leading the list of most actively traded stocks was BDO Unibank Inc., which dropped 0.50 percent to P93 a share.

This was followed by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (down 0.13 percent to P2,984), Ayala Land Inc. (up 0.33 percent to P30.60), SM Investments Corp. (down 1.41 percent to P804.50), and DMCI Holdings Inc. (down 0.27 percent to P73.80). Miguel R. Camus