PH stock prices up in cautious morning trade

AP FILE PHOTO/AARON FAVILA

MANILA, Philippines—Share prices on the Philippine Stock Exchange edged higher in cautious Wednesday morning trade as investors awaited Thursday’s release of economic growth data for the second quarter.

The 30-share PSE index ended the first half of the day at 5,181.83, representing an increase of 6.21 points, or 0.12 percent.

Trading in the morning was relatively muted with only P1.68 billion worth of shares changing hands so far.

SM Prime Holdings was the most active stock in the morning session with P268 million worth of shares traded. The owners of the mall operator and developer are engaged in acquisition talks for Ortigas and Co. against their rival Ayala Land Inc., which is also interested in the Ortigas central business district straddling Pasig City and San Juan.

Other active stocks include Metrobank, Puregold and PLDT.

All sectoral indices inched higher, except for the holding firms and mining and oil sector.

There were 80 advancers versus 62 decliners, while 32 stock remained unchanged.