Roundup: Philippine bourse closes lower as foreign market performances bring impacts

The Philippine stock market failed to sustain its intra-day rally and ended the session in the negative.

The local barometer Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 0.07 percent or 5.69 points to 7,601.17, while the broader all-share index slipped by 0.02 percent or 0.79 points to 4,351.39.

Trading volume reached 913 million shares worth 8.61 billion Philippine pesos (191.3 million U.S. dollars) with 76 stocks advancing, 76 declining, and 50 were unchanged.

Three of the six counters bucked the trend. These were financial, industrial, and the holding firm sectors.

"It may or it may not be noticeable to some but there is a stirring of optimism that underlies the seemingly bearish surface of the market. There appears to be a bull raring to break out of its cage, needing just a simple prop to do so," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment.

The composite index gained as much as 60 points before investors started booking their gains.

Online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said sentiments initially glided with Wall Street's overnight ascent with gradual rate hike move already factored into prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average index jumped by 180 points on Thursday's trading.

"Whether we like it or not, the unfolding narrative on the Greek debt crisis will impact on share prices as well as the direction of interest rates in the U.S.," Calaycay said.

"For the moment however, investors appear content with bargain- hunting as the recent series of declines have pulled valuations off their peaks," Calaycay added.

Stocks in the 30-company index closed mixed. Among those picked up were Universal Robina Corp. Investors however dumped shares of SM Prime Holdings, Inc., Globe Telecom, Inc., and SM Investments Corp. Endi