Philippine market closes up on selective buying

MANILA, Philippines—Stocks firmed up on Tuesday after a sluggish morning trade as investors remained awash in cash and eager to embark on selective buying.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange closed 6.51 points, or 0.13 percent, higher at 5,169.60.

Holding firms, services, mining/oil and property stocks gained while the financial and industrial counters faltered.

Value turnover amounted to P5.69 billion.

Despite the slim index gain, there were 82 advancers against 84 decliners, while 41 stocks were unchanged.

Among index stocks, Philex Mining was the biggest advancer (+6.94 percent).

Megaworld (+2.82 percent) and ALI (+2 percent) likewise contributed to the PSEi’s gain.

Other index stocks that closed higher were PLDT, Semirara and AC.

Among the non-index stocks that gained on heavy volume were NiHao and Security Bank.

On the other hand, the PSEi’s gains were tempered by the decline in Metrobank, SMIC, URC, MPI, EDC and AP.

Newly listed GT Capital and Puregold also declined.

The local stock market was initially down by 6.01 points in morning trade as investors took their cue from the weakness seen on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial index fell by 102.09 points due to renewed worries on Europe’s ability to make progress on debt issues after weekend political events in France and the Netherlands.

The US stocks index was also weighed down by Chinese manufacturing data, weaker earnings forecast from cereal-maker Kellogg Inc. and a decline in shares of Wal-Mart due to corruption allegations at its unit in Mexico.