Most shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange closed higher in modest trading Friday, as investors started repositioning their placements for the third quarter.
 
However, the main PSEi slipped 9.74 points or 0.19 percent to 5,246.41.
 
The index drop reflected “more of the repositioning by the investors for the 3rd quarter,” said Freya Trinidad, investment analyst at F. Yap Securities Inc.
 
More than 3.033 billion shares valued at P43.900 billion were traded in the session.
 
The peso value reflected a cross transaction of San Miguel Corp. shares, bought and sold by a single brokerage for the benefit of San Miguel president Ramon Ang.
 
Advancers led decliners 111 to 60, with 34 issues unchanged.
 
Without the usual window-dressing for the first half perking up selected shares, the market would have reflected dissatisfaction over the lack of concrete solutions for the euro zone financial crisis, said Greff Ilag, equity analyst at AB Capital Securities Inc.
 
“Everybody (was) expecting a concrete plan for Europe on how to handle the large funding plan for Spain, France and Italy,” Ilag added.
 
Apart from the San Miguel transaction, investors were noticeably changing portfolios by catching shares that have been run down by the market, Natividad noted.
 
The modest volume, excluding the San Miguel, transaction, also signals the market is in a consolidation phase, she said.
 
“Since the market is consolidating, it’s normal that the participation is thinner. It might pick up when momentum begins,” Natividad added. —Marc Cayabyab/VS, GMA News