Stocks extend rally

Local stocks gained ground for the fourth straight session Tuesday on the back of Holy Week bargain-hunting alongside some quarter-end window-dressing.

Defying mostly lackluster regional markets, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index rallied by 67.53 points or 1.02 percent to close at 6,665.12.

All counters were up but the biggest gainers were the holding firm and services counters, which both rose by 1.4 percent.

Total value turnover for the day amounted to P9 billion. There were 88 advancers that outnumbered 59 decliners while 48 stocks were unchanged.

The day’s biggest index gainer was Alliance Global Inc. (+3.43 percent), which obtained consent from bondholders to revise the covenant governing a $500-million bond issue.

AGI was also the most actively traded stock for the day, followed by PLDT (+1.92 percent), which benefited from the issuance of a revised Securities and Exchange Commission draft on foreign ownership that makes its recent capital restructuring compliant with the 60-40 percent ownership rule favoring local investors.

Investors also snapped up shares of Manila Water Corp., Metro Pacific Investments, JG Summit, Robinsons Land, Jollibee, Universal Robina, SM and DMCI.

Other non-index stocks that gained in heavy trade were Boulevard Holdings (+4.58 percent) and LT Group (+1.91 percent). LTG is expected to announce a follow-on equity offering of as much as $800 million after Easter. Doris C. Dumlao