Index ends flat as market mirrors Dow's lead

MANILA, Philippines - Local share prices barely moved yesterday with the index rising by only 0.24 percent or 7.4 points to 3,069.29, mirroring Wall Street’s flat performance overnight.

Analysts said there is resistance to the composite index’s climb to 3,100 points.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged up by 2.19 points on Tuesday, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 2.6 points.

On the local front, gainers beat losers 60 to 47, while 54 stocks were unchanged. Volume reached 1.82 billion stocks worth P3.08 billion.

Holding firms closed 0.71 percent or 12.37 points higher at 1746.41, while services added 0.45 percent or 6.92 points to finish at 1551.98.

Property stocks also inched up by 0.34 percent or 3.51 points to 1049.54, while mining and oil companies gained 0.13 percent or 11.95 points to 9,555.91. Industrial stocks likewise finished 0.06 percent or 2.99 points higher at 4628.69.

Financial stocks, on the other hand, lost 0.22 percent or 1.43 points to close at 644.51.

Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), which on Tuesday said it expects flat profits this year, added P10 to close at P2,685.

Holding company Sinophil Corp., the day’s biggest gainer, closed 17 percent higher at 33 centavos. Wednesday’s biggest loser, Integrated Micro-Electronics, Inc., lost P2.25 to finish at P12.75.

Meanwhile, oil prices rose close to $81 a barrel on Tuesday, climbing at a time of the year when crude and gasoline prices typically move higher.

Benchmark crude for April delivery rose 98 cents to settle at $79.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It went as high as $80.95 earlier in the day.

Wholesale gasoline prices also increased. The April contract gained 4.10 cents to settle at $2.1966 per gallon on the Nymex.

Oil prices have been drifting between $70 and $80 a barrel for most of the last eight months as crude demand remains weak in the US and other industrial countries coming out of the Great Recession. — AP