Stocks ended lower on Monday following the Holy Week break.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index closed 41.11 points lower to 7,588.83 In the broader market, there were 106 decliners, 74 advancers and 50 issues unchanged.

Decliners were led by Megaworld Corp, down 2.96 percent to P3.93, GT Capital Holdings, down 2.36 percent to P1,245 and PLDT Inc, down 1.8 percent to P1,748.

The peso closed at P49.54 against the US dollar from P49.43 last Wednesday, the final day of last week’s three-day work week. Volume at the Philippine Dealing System went down to $346.3 million from the previous $788 million. DMS