Stocks closed slightly higher on Tuesday, with the broader market mostly flat.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index closed 6.74 points higher to 7,323.31 points but the broader market showed advances and declines tied at 98. Forty-six shares were unchanged.

Volume rose to 1.39 billion shares valued at P7.67 billion from Monday’s 1.27 billion worth P7.03 billion. Foreign selling reached P4.57 billion while foreign buying was at P4.65 billion.

For the third session, Easy Call Communications led gainers by finishing 16.81 percent higher to P5.49 followed by MRC Allied Incorporated, up 16.58 percent to 0.225 and Ever-Gotesco Resources and Holdings, up 16.15 percent to 0.187.

The peso closed at P50.185 against the US dollar, down from the previous P50.09. Volume at the Philippine Dealing System declined to $289.5 million from $441.3 million on Monday. DMS