Local stocks track regional upswing

MANILA, Philippines–Philippine stocks rose on Thursday, tracking the regional trend, as South Korea’s central bank lowered its key interest rate to an all-time low.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index grew by 0.63 percent, or 49.08 points, to 7,839.82 yesterday.

The broader all-shares index was up by 0.6 percent, or 27.14 points, to 4,550.54.

Sub-indices came in mixed, with property firms leading gains at 1.98 percent, followed by holding companies at 1.04 percent. Services, mining and oil were losers yesterday, as they declined by 1.29 percent and 0.22 percent, respectively.

Data from the Philippine Stock Exchange showed that 1.29 billion shares, valued at P9.4 billion. A total of 105 companies gained against 67 decliners, while 40 companies were unchanged.

Metropolitan Bank and Trust led the list of most actively traded stocks, gaining 0.32 percent to P94.15. It was followed by Ayala Corp. (up 1.21 percent to P754), Global Ferronickel Holdings (down 2.67 percent to P2.55), Alliance Global Group Inc. (up 2.78 percent to P25.90) and Ayala Land Inc. (up 2.25 percent to P38.60).

Other actively traded stocks were Energy Development Corp. (up 1.44 percent to P8.44), BDO Unibank Inc. (0.09 percent to P114), Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (down 2.91 percent to P3,002), and GT Capital Holdings Inc. (up 2.57 percent to P1,305).–Miguel R. Camus