Manila - Philippine shares fell sharply by 4.15 per cent on Monday on fresh fears over the continuing financial woes in the United States.

The Philippines Stock Exchange's 30-share composite index plunged 109.96 points to close at 2,536.16 from Friday's finish of 2,646.12.

A total of 2.02 billion shares valued at 1.91 billion pesos (40.65 million dollars) were traded.

Losers swamped gainers 92 to 11, with 33 issues unchanged.

Analysts said the sell-off was triggered by concerns over the possible collapse of leading US investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Lehman Brothers appeared ready to file for bankruptcy after Barclays PLC withdrew its bid for the bank. (dpa)