Local index up slightly as many stock prices fall

MANILA, Philippines – The local stocks barometer closed marginally higher on Thursday as  late-session buying reversed earlier profit-taking and kept the main index afloat for the fifth straight day.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 1.58 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 4,370.46 in mixed trading.

Modest gains by the industrial, holding firms and mining/oil counters made up for the slack in the financial, property and services counters.

Turnover amounted to P3.94 billion.  Despite the overall index gain, there were 83 decliners against only 69 advancers while 51 stocks were unchanged.

The index stocks that helped the PSEi stay in positive territory were BDO, EDC, DMCI, SMIC, ICTSI, Ayala Corp., URC and Semirara.  Other stocks that gained in heavy trade were: Lepanto A (open to local) and B (open to all investors) and Security Bank.