Philippine stock market slips due to profit taking on Tuesday

The Philippine stock market succumbed to profit takers on Tuesday.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 0.43 percent or 31.76 points to 7,262.64, while the broader all-share index declined by 0.27 percent or 11.83 points to 4,385.77.

Trading volume reached 3.85 billion shares worth 6.59 billion Philippine pesos (133 million U.S. dollars) with 108 stocks declining, 93 advancing, and 42 were unchanged.

Three of the six counters bucked the trend. These were industrial, services, and mining and oil sectors.

Online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said the local equities was swayed by report that consumer prices last month was at a two-year high.

"Indications of higher inflation might construe less consumer spending, which in turn, might affect sectors such as consumer and retail stocks," online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said in its daily stock market comment.

The Philippine government reported that local consumer prices hit their highest in more than two years in January at 2.7 percent last month, faster than December's 2.6 percent.

The higher inflation was due to higher water and energy costs among other commodities.

"We saw some profit-taking, as most investors bank on results from local headlines before taking into large positions for today," it said.

Stocks in the 30-company index finished mixed. Among those picked up were BDO Unibank, Inc., Century Properties Group, and Ayala Land, Inc. Endit