PSEi ends slightly up as PLDT puts drag on PHL shares

Philippine share prices edged higher on Tuesday, bolstered by Wall Street's record close, but the decline of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) capped the market's gains.

 

The benchmark PSEi added 2.59 points or 0.03 percent to 7,776.51 at the closing bell. The broader All Shares increased by 0.28 point or 0.006 percent to 4,525.07.

 

Over 1.2408 billion shares worth P6.7219 billion were traded. Advancers outweighed decliners, 101 to 68, while 47 issues were unchanged.

 

Analysts attributed the local market's climb to the record close of US stocks.

 

The Nasdaq on Monday closed above 5,000 for the first time since the year 2000 dot.com bubble as tech stocks were boosted by deals, while the S&P 500 and Dow indexes hit records after economic data pointed to a slowly accelerating economy, Reuters reported.

 

But the weak earnings of index heavyweight PLDT kept the market from posting additional points, Angping & Associates Securities Inc. research head Rafael Supangco told GMA News Online.

 

"TEL announced weak earnings in 2014 and expect tame profit this year," he said, referring to PLDT by its stock symbol.

 

PLDT reported a net income of P34.1 billion, down 4 percent from P35.4 billion a year earlier. It also revealed a profit guidance of P35 billion this year.

 

TEL shed 0.13 percent to P3,096 apiece from P3,100.

 

Supangco noted the market is still in consolidation mode, coming from a two-week uptrend.

 

"We've been up big two weeks already. But issues that led the index higher are power companies, in anticipation of good earnings," he said.

 

"The market will continue to consolidate as we're in the middle to tail end of earnings season," he added. – VS, GMA News