Philippine stocks continue uptrend

Local shares moved higher on Thursday, buoyed by buying on shares of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. after telecommunication regulators approved its P69-billion acquisition of No. 3 player Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc.

Investors also took heart with reports that the European Union has reached a deal to solve the continent’s sovereign debt crisis.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended the session at 4,267.50, rising by 42.74 points, or 1.01 percent.

Shares of PLDT led the market higher, with its share price rising by P58, or 2.48 percent, to end the session at P2,388 per share. Digitel also saw its shares advance to P1.58 per share from the previous session’s P1.54 per share.

In the meantime, shares of Globe Telecom Inc. also moved higher to P909 per share from P892, on the back of expectations that conditions imposed by regulators on the PLDT-Digitel merger would give the Ayala-controlled telco a level playing field.

All sectoral indices moved higher led by the services sector, which rose by 1.8 percent.

Trading activity was moderate ahead of the long All Saints’ Day weekend, with P3.6 billion worth of shares changing hands.

Advancers swamped decliners, 89 to 41, while 39 shares remained unchanged.

Traders expect stocks to move sideways Friday, with volume dwindling before the long weekend.