Philippine stocks up 0.7% on China's economic growth

MANILA, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine stock market Monday opened the week positively after China released its economic growth of 7.5 percent in the second quarter earlier this day.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 0.7 percent or 45.74 points to 6,619.95, while the broader all-share index rose by 0.63 percent or 25.33 points to 4,051.02.

Trading volume reached 2.47 billion shares worth 6.86 billion pesos (158.06 million U.S. dollars) with 86 stocks advancing, 65 declining, and 38 were unchanged.

Of the six counters, only the financial sectors bucked the trend.

"The composite index extended gains to a fourth session on the back of a general rise among Asian equities after China's second quarter gross domestic product output, which albeit slower, was in line with market expectations," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said.

Calaycay said thin trades marked the start of activity in Asian equities as investors held back for the announcement of China's second quarter growth.

Concerns over the country's slowing growth, hinted at by early manufacturing and trade reports, have pushed U.S. Federal Reserves easing fears off the table affecting markets particularly in Asia.

"Markets rose after the numbers came out in line with the 7.5 percent expectations with factory output growth sliding for the second straight month to an 8.9 percent pace. Retail sales however managed to beat estimates expanding by over 13 percent," Calaycay said.

This, he said, was the "fresh inspiring numbers" that pushed investors to the buying side. The positive bias, Calaycay said, should continue given the improving external background.

"The positive bias should continue given the improving external background. Today, the Philippine equities tested the 6,650-line but retreated," he said.

The analyst noted that succeeding attempts may be more successful with the market seen returning to the 6,800 to 6,900 levels before earnings roll.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly up. These issues include heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., SM Prime Holdings, Inc., and Megaworld Corp.

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