MANILA, Philippines - Local shares prices closed flat on Monday as market glitches due to the launch of a new trading system kept investors at the sidelines.

The Philippine Stock Exchange missed the rally in regional markets, as investors took comfort from the results of Europe's stress tests on its banks, which showed that the major players in the region can withstand another financial crisis.

Due to the glitches, the stock exchange advised market participants that readings showing a sharp spike in the main index were incorrect.

The bourse ran an advisory to market players to disregard the index readings for the moment. The exchange had shown the main index had surged 15.3% to a lifetime high of 3,937.39 points in early trade.

The main index finally closed little changed at 3,414.00. Trading was thin at 4.7 million shares, while the total value of shares traded was just P1.62 billion, nearly half of the usual trading volume.

"There was tentativeness on the part of investors because of all the confusion," PJ Garcia, chief investment officer of ING Investment Management, said in a phone patch interview with ANC.

He said the market lost the opportunity to trade higher because of the technical problems brought about by the new trading system.

In early trade, Pulse Asia released a survey that showed President Benigno Aquino III is starting his presidency on a high note with 85% of Filipinos expressing trust in him, the highest trust rating ever recorded by any individual since the agency started its trust probes in 1999.

The Pulse Asia survey, conducted last July 1 to 11, had only 2% of Filipinos saying they distrust the new President while 13% are unable to say if they trust or distrust him.

Garcia said investors in general are looking for concrete reforms by the new government, particularly in the area of fiscal consolidation.

"Investors want to see what programs would be in place to address that, given that the Philippines is lagging behind its neighbors in terms of debt ratios."

He said investors would be keeping a keen eye on how the Aquino administration would alleviate poverty and address growing concerns about political governance and corruption.

"There are a lot of expectations from the new President. But he has only 6 years. He must focus on a few but doable projects that would have a bigger impact on our people and country."