Philippine stocks close at fresh year-high

Sustained interest in the Philippine stock market allowed it to finish at a fresh year high on Friday, bucking again the drop in the world equities, dealers said.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index rose by 0. 92 percent or 33.11 points to 3,593.60, while the broader all- share index climbed by 0.9 percent or 20.18 points to 2,262.08.

Trading volume reached 1.26 billion shares worth 4.95 billion pesos (110.24 million U.S. dollars) with 76 issues advancing and 53 declining. A total of 39 shares, meanwhile, did not move.

"The last day of trades for the week is a toss-up. Thus far, the market has defied anticipations of a correction after having breached the 3,500-mark, initially on the back of strong second quarter and first half results," analyst Justino Calaycay with Accord Capital Equities Corp. said.

The Philippine stock market posted a strong comeback, gaining as much as 3.57 percent this week as most stocks have shown attractive valuations, said DBP-Daiwa Securities, Inc., noting that an upgrade on the earning growth of the firms have served as catalyst for the aggressive buying momentum.

Likewise, this week's strong rally was backed up by heavy volume with foreign funds supporting the market.

Even PSE president Val Antonio Suarez noted the strong performance of the local stock market which he attributed to the favorable economic backdrop and the positive outlook of investors on emerging economies such as the Philippines.

"As the crisis bottomed out, the (Philippine) stock market has rebounded strongly. The PSE index surged by more than 10 percent already and recorded its highest level in more than two years (on Friday)," Suarez said.


【1】 【2】