MANILA, Philippines -- Shares closed lower in range-bound trading Monday as high oil prices and rising inflation continued to weigh on sentiment, sending investors to the sidelines to await more positive leads before returning to the trading floor.

"With crude oil still trading above $132 a barrel and no positive news to lift sentiment, many investors are staying on the fence," said Rommel Macapagal, chairman of Westlink Global Equities.

The 30-company composite index was down 8.76 points or 0.3 percent at 2,840.52, after moving between 2,829.93 and 2,842.89.

The all-share index lost 5.88 points or 0.3 percent to 1,748.88.

There were 60 decliners and 19 advancers, while 61 were unchanged.

Turnover remained lean at P1.7 billion.

In morning Asian trade, New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, was up 37 cents at $132.56 a barrel, after closing at $132.19 a barrel in New York on Friday, amid concerns that output was inadequate to meet rising demand as the US summer driving season began.

Electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange was unaffected by the US Memorial Day holiday on Monday.

London's Brent North Sea crude for July delivery was trading at $131.90 a barrel, up 33 cents.

On Thursday, Brent struck an all-time high of $135.14 and New York crude reached a record $135.09, before both contracts plunged as investors took profits.

"High oil prices will certainly hurt consumers and the overall domestic economy," Macapagal said.

The Philippines imports almost all its crude oil requirements.

"Our scenario is that the US slowdown and high oil and food prices will put both external and domestic demand under pressure in 2008," said Simon Wong, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank.

Investors will have an idea how high inflation has affected economic growth by Thursday, when the government announces the economy's performance during the first quarter.

Wong said the Philippine economy probably grew 5.5 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter, much slower than the 7.4 percent expansion in the previous quarter.

He expects full-year growth to slow sharply to 4.1 percent from 7.3 percent in 2007, the fastest pace in 31 years.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the country's biggest company by market value, and whose revenue is mostly derived from mobile phone calls and text messages, fell 1.1 percent to P2,645.00.

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) lost 1.6 percent to P63.00 ahead of Tuesday's annual stockholders' meeting amid government pressure on the company to lower its electricity rates.

Meralco shares have tumbled from P80.00 a month ago, dragged down by political pressure to lower its power rates and the possibility of a government takeover of the company, analysts said.

"Investors are shying away from Meralco. If the company is forced to cut power rates, then that will affect its revenue," said Astro del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Holdings Inc.

"Investors are also wary that there could be some surprising jolts during the meeting tomorrow. It is still anybody's ballgame."

Food and drinks conglomerate San Miguel Corp.'s A-shares, which only Filipinos can trade, were flat at P42.50. Its B-shares, open to all, fell 2.2 percent to P44.00.

($1 = P43.50)