PHL shares close higher on month-end 'window-dressing'

Philippine shares closed higher on Tuesday due to window-dressing and US market performance overnight.

"Aside from US [housing] data and market, today is also month-end so this is more of window dressing," said Elizabeth Abadillo, analyst at Angping and Associates Securities Inc..

The main PSEi increased by 42.64 points or 0.61 percent to 7,070.99.

The broader all-shares index added 17.85 points or 0.41 percent to 4,409.73. Except for mining and oil, which went down 1.19 percent, all indices posted gains.

According to the analyst, the decline in mining and oil were led by Philex Petroleum, which shed 3.76 percent to P26.90 a share and Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company, which decreased by 5.88 percent to P0.96.

More than 4.10 billion shares valued at P10.84 billion were traded. Advancers led decliners 91 to 82 while 39 stocks were unchanged.

Abadilla noted that most investors will be on holiday on Wednesday, Labor Day. "On May 2, it will be a different story. We'll see if the market can sustain the 7,000-level," she said. — BM, GMA News