Philippine shares decline

Local share prices on Thursday succumbed to profit-taking after hitting a four-week high earlier in the week.

The main Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) lost 37.03 points, or 0.72 percent, to close at 5,109.43, while the broader all-shares index fell 0.40 percent.

The index was up by 7.91 points at the end of midday trading and reached a high of 5,156.92 points. Prior to Thursday, stocks advanced for three consecutive days to its highest point since mid-May.

There were 72 advancers and 81 decliners, while 49 stocks were unchanged. Trading volume was at 3.13 billion shares worth P5.1 billion. All subsectoral indices ended in the red except for mining and oil shares, which rose 0.39 points following President Aquino’s pronouncement that new rules on mining would be released this week.

For the second day, shares of Megaworld Corp. and parent firm Alliance Global Group Inc. were the two most actively traded shares. The Andrew Tan-led issues were up 2.88 percent and 0.17 percent, respectively.—Paolo G. Montecillo