Philippine shares close higher despite US shutdown

Philippine shares closed 0.10 percent higher Tuesday. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index increased by 6.04 points to 6,197.84. The all-share index, however, went up by 5.26 points, or 0.14 percent, to 3,763.49. Trading volume reached 1.53 billion shares worth 7.88 billion pesos (181.57 million U.S. dollars). There were 57 gainers, 84 losers while 41 stocks closed flat. "Markets initially held on to the morning gains for a while, taking time to digest the latest development in the United States. As the afternoon session progressed, it became evident that investors found the sidelines a more enticing place to ride out the uncertainty," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said, describing the local equities' performance on Tuesday. The index initially went up to as high as 6,251.20 before sellers nearly wiped out the intra-day gains. Calaycay said investors have already sold down their positions as early as Monday in anticipation of the U.S. budget impasse, resulting in the shutdown of major US federal government agencies. By late Tuesday afternoon, U.S. President Barack Obama had already instructed federal agencies to begin partial shutdown as the stalemate passed the deadline to pass an appropriation law. "The attention the local market has given to the US budget and debt ceiling problems is understandable," Calaycay said. Stocks in the 30-company index closed mixed. Among those picked up were Manila Electric Co., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., and Ayala Land, Inc.