Roundup: Philippine bourse closes lower on selling pressure

The Philippine stock market gave in to selling pressure on Friday ahead of the voting over Greece's possible financial rescue.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index slipped by 0.57 percent or 43.01 points to 7,535.30, while the broader all-share index tumbled by 0.34 percent or 14.56 points to 4,320.43.

Trading volume reached 891 million shares worth 5.18 billion Philippine pesos (114.74 million U.S. dollars) with 65 stocks advancing, 83 declining, and 57 were unchanged.

All six counters were down.

"Some volatility were seen in local equities after the International Monetary Fund released a sobering report on Greece," 2TradeAsia.com said in its daily stock market comment.

The online brokerage noted that while the country's overall exposure to the country is limited, concerns of contagion among weaker economies convinced investors to stay on the sidelines until after the referendum this week.

An opinion poll released by ALCO institute however showed that supporters and oppositors to the bailout terms were almost neck and neck.

As such, investors opted to play it safe by booking their gains ahead of the two-day weekend.

Stocks in the 30-company index were down. These include Jollibee Foods Corp., Ayala Corp., and SM Investments Corp. Endi