Bearish sentiments prompt RP shares to close flat

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine share prices on Thursday closed little changed as players turned cautious and chose to take profits following the previous session's gain. The benchmark 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index dipped 5.01 points or 0.2416 percent to 2,068.30. The all shares also dropped 4.28 points or 0.3171 percent to 1,345.27. Similarly, market breadth was negative. Losers outpaced gainers, 54 to 28, while 50 stocks were unchanged. The six sub-indices were split in half, with mining and oil, industrial and financials closing in the red while holding firms, property, and services rose. Volume traded reached 1.575 billion valued at about P1.5 billion. The bourse was down 90 percent of the session, showing the negative bias of investors, analysts said. "We just rallied toward the close, that's why we ended flat. There were renewed fears about the state of the US banks," said Jose Vistan, AB Capital Securities research chief. Overnight the Dow Jones industrial average dove 83 points owing to dismal earnings reports of Morgan Stanley and credit card firm Capital One Financing Corp. The latest forecast of the International Monetary Fund that the Philippine economy will post zero growth this year also had a factor in the bearish sentiment of players, he said. Telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the day's top traded, jumped P20 or 0.9324 percent to P2,165 while rival Globe Telecom Inc. shed P15 or 1.7964 percent at P820. Holding company SM Investments Corp. rose P1 or 0.4405 percent to P228. Property company Megaworld Corp. fell P0.02 or 3.0769 percent to P0.63 while rival Filinvest Land Inc. declined P0.01 or 2.1277 percent to P0.46. - GMANews.TV