PH stock prices rise

MANILA, Philippines—Prices of most local stocks rose in thin post-holiday trade on Friday, aided by a favorable outlook on the US economy.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index added 35.06 points, or 0.52 percent, to close at 6,742.97.

Some investors welcomed the US Federal Reserve’s assessment that the US economy was picking up after a severe winter.

The US central bank said that in the aftermath of the cold weather, the country would likely see some recovery, giving it leeway to further reduce its stimulus program by $10 billion a month to $45 billion.

Across the region, however, trading was mixed ahead of the release of US jobs data.

At the local market, all counters were up but the biggest gainer was the mining/oil counter, which inched up by 2.27 percent.

Value turnover amounted to P6.54 billion.

There were 112 advancers that edged out 64 decliners while 37 stocks were unchanged.

One notable PSEi gainer was ICTSI (+4.16 percent), which bagged a new port terminal deal in Melbourne, Australia.

SM Prime, Metrobank, GTCAP and Jollibee all gained by over 1 percent.

BDO, SMIC, ALI, URC, PLDT and AP also contributed to the day’s gains.

On the other hand, there was profit-taking on AGI, AC, Meralco and LTG.

Outside the main index, Emperador fell by 2.52 percent.—Doris C. Dumlao