Property, mining shares lead PH stock market upswing

MANILA, Philippines – Most local stock prices went up Thursday as investors started to see some light at the end of the tunnel with respect to debt default risks hounding Greece.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index recouped 32.54 points or 0.76 percent to 4,291.40 as the market snapped up oversold stocks.

The property and mining/oil counters led the day’s upswing, respectively rising by 2.31 percent and 1.15 percent.

Turnover amounted to P4.66 billion. There were 91 advancers against 49 decliners while 45 stocks were unchanged.

The index was led higher by SM Prime, PLDT, BDO, SM Investments, ALI, Metrobank, AGI, BPI, Globe Telecom, Philex and Meralco. Non-index stocks Lepanto “A” (for local investors) and “B,” Union Bank, Manila Mining and Boulevard also gained in heavy trade.

On the other hand, the PSEi’s gains were tempered by the decline of EDC, Metro Pacific Investments and AEV shares.

Overseas sentiment improved as the leaders of Greece, France and Germany agreed that Greece was an “integral” part of the euro-zone. For its part, Greece vowed to swallow bitter pills to trim its debts in order to obtain more help from EU.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped by 140.88 points, or 1.3 percent, to close at 11,246.73.