Market eases as investors take modest profits

Share prices closed 0.16 percent lower yesterday as investors took modest profits after sharp gains Thursday, dealers said.

The pullback followed two days of gains that brought the market to its highest level in nearly seven years, with trade expected to be modest next week ahead of the Easter holiday break.

The composite index fell 3.64 points to 2,216.73 after trading between 2,207.05 and 2,221.76. Volume was 2.894 billion shares worth P1.318 billion.

Losers led gainers 44 to 39, with 58 stocks unchanged.

The all-shares index was down 4.49 points at 1,096.94.

"Some investors took profits ahead of what is expected to be a very dull trading week. The market is in vacation mode," said Astro del Castillo of First Grade Holdings Inc.

The market will be closed on April 13 and 14 for the Easter weekend. Trading will resume on April 17.

SM Investments, the most actively traded stock, fell P1 to P227.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) was steady at P1,975.

San Miguel A-shares, exclusive for Filipinos, fell 50 centavos to P60 while its B-shares, available to foreign investors, retreated P1.50 to P79.

Ayala Corp. fell P7.50, or 2.1 percent, to P350. The owner of the nation’s biggest developer and No. 2 banking and phone companies will make the investments "to explore areas outside our traditional fields," chief executive officer Jaime Augusto Zobel said in an interview. The investment will help in "getting access to deal flows and opportunities."

Ayala’s plan "in the short term may be perceived negatively because investors may wonder if this is a signal that investment opportunities here are not exciting anymore," said Joe-An Alitagtag, an analyst at Philippine Equity Partners Inc. in Manila.

Class B shares of San Miguel Corp., which allows overseas investors to own the nation’s biggest food and beverage company, fell P1.50, 1.9 percent, to P79. The company said profit rose four percent to P988 million, without providing comparative figures. Sales climbed 30 percent, it said.

Roxas Holdings Inc., the nation’s biggest sugar refiner, fell 5 centavos, or 1.8 percent, to P2.75. Refined, or white, sugar for August delivery yesterday fell $3.60, or 0.8 percent, to $463.20 a metric ton on London’s Liffe Exchange after China Business News reported China would sell 368,000 metric tons of refined sugar in four auctions starting April 11.

Class B shares of Philex Mining Corp., which allow overseas investors to own the gold and copper producer, rose 20 centavos, or 6.9 percent, to P3.10. Gold futures traded above $600 per ounce for a second day as investors bet metals will fetch better returns than stocks and bonds. – AFP