Local stocks end higher

The local stock barometer firmed up yesterday to defy the downturn seen across the region, led by another day of strong rally by Globe Telecom.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 35.37 points or 0.5 percent to close at 7,148.26, aided by buying on selected large cap stocks.

The day’s gains were led by the services counter. Globe Telecom led the sub-sector as it rallied by 8.59 percent. It was the most actively traded stock as the market continued to price in the impact of an aborted Telstra-San Miguel Corp. alliance on competition in the local telecom industry.

The financial, industrial and holding firms also firmed up.

On the other hand, the mining/oil counter slipped by 1.03 percent while the property counter also declined.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P8.29 billion.

Despite the PSEi’s gain, market breadth was negative, with 101 decliners edging out 87 advancers while 47 stocks were unchanged.

SM Investments Corp. and BPI also gained by more than 1 percent, while Universal Robina Corp., SM Prime, Metro Pacific Investments Corp., JG Summit and Alliance Global Group Inc. also firmed up.

Outside of the PSEi, the notable gainers included DoubleDragon (+4.4 percent), Melco Crown (+3.17 percent) and Robinsons Retail Holdings (+1.43 percent).

Ayala Land Inc., Ayala Corp. and Petron all declined by more than 1 percent.  Metrobank and BDO Unibank also slipped.

Puregold also declined by 1.46 percent while Security Bank also slipped by 0.06 percent. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla