Stocks close lower on thin Holy Week trading

Philippine stocks ended lower on Tuesday, as investors stayed on the sidelines with the coming Holy Week holidays.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index closed down 0.22 percent, or 16.51 points, to 7,601.40 yesterday while the broader all-shares index was also down 0.19 percent 4,532.92.

Trading volume, while still relatively thin, inched higher from Monday.

Data from the PSE showed a total of 1.47 billion shares valued at P7.13 billion changed hands on Tuesday.

Moreover, a total of 118 companies declined, while 87 gained and 47 closed unchanged.

Subsectors closed mixed yesterday. Mining and oil led gainers with a 0.62 percent increase, followed by industrial companies, up 0.46 percent, and services, up 0.37 percent. Property, down 1.19 percent, led losers among subindices, followed by financials, down 0.4 percent, and holding firms, down 0.02 percent.

GT Capital Holdings Inc. was the most actively traded on Tuesday, as it gained 3.59 percent to P1,269 a share.

It was followed by PLDT Inc., up 0.85 percent to P1,770, Metropolitan Bank and Trust, down 0.92 percent to P86.50, Universal Robina Corp., up 2.5 percent to P172, and SM Investments Corp., down 0.55 percent to P723 per share.