Stocks rise in heavy volume

Local share prices rose to record highs anew as more companies released full-year results for 2012, fueling optimism from investors looking for new opportunities amid low interest rates.

The main Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) tore through the 6,600-mark Tuesday to finish at 6,620.72 points, up 0.85 percent or 55.49 points. The broader All-Shares index was also up 0.52 points, even though decliners outnumbered advancers, 94 to 75, while 52 issues were unchanged.

Turnover was healthy with 2.33 billion shares changing hands for P10.25 billion.

Online brokerage firm 2TradeAsia said excess stocks benefited from excess liquidity from investors looking for higher yields. “Notice that the lulls within local equities trading seem to run short as bargain-lookers seize on this trend to reposition on selected bets,” the firm said in a daily note.

Index movers were led by International Container Terminal Services Inc., which rose 5.01 percent. This was followed by Petron Corp. (3.86 percent), and Ayala Land (2.91 percent).

The day’s most active stocks were SM Investments Corp. and Alliance Global Group Inc., whose stocks rose 0.3 percent and 1.48 percent, respectively.

Former Ambassador and juice-drink magnate Alfredo Yao’s Philippine Business Bank also went public yesterday—the market’s first initial public offering for 2013. The bank’s shares rose 15.4 percent to close at P36.35 each and was the day’s third-most active stock. Paolo G. Montecillo