MANILA, Philippines ? Local stocks fell mildly on Friday as fresh global jitters over the US economy gave investors an excuse to lock in early-week gains.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index shed a marginal 2.4 points or 0.07 percent to close at 3,426.95.

Compared to last Friday's finish, however, the PSEi was still a net gainer of a modest 10.85 points or 0.3 percent for this week.

The market opened strongly but succumbed to profit-taking before clawing back to trim the day's losses, thanks to the industrial and holding-firm counters which managed to stay afloat during the session.

Value turnover amounted to P2.93 billion. There were 54 advancers, which were edged out by 72 decliners, while 45 stocks were unchanged.

Despite the relatively sluggish mood, stock prices of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., DMCI Holdings Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands, Philweb Corp., Ayala Land Inc., Universal Robina Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., Jollibee Foods Corp. and ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.?s Philippine Depositary Receipts posted gains.

On the other hand, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Globe Telecom Inc., Aboitiz Power Corp., Megaworld Corp., Philippine National Bank, Energy Development Corp., Robinsons Land Corp. and Filinvest Land Inc. lost ground.

Investment bank Credit Agricole CIB said Friday's markets were preceded by modest risk aversion in overseas markets, noting that European and American indexes had suffered overnight from a much bigger-than-expected jump in US continuing jobless claims data. It added that less favorable second quarter results of some US companies had also weighed down on sentiment.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Index was down 30.72 points or 0.29 percent to 10,467.16 while the broader S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq indices likewise dipped by 0.42 percent and 0.57 percent, respectively.