Local share prices make strong rally

PSE index as of August 30, 2013, 03:46:00 PM Screengrab from https://www.pse.com.ph/

MANILA, Philippines – Most local stock prices rallied sharply for a second straight session on Friday on upbeat economic prospects for the Philippines and a mix of month-end window-dressing and bargain-hunting.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index racked up 130.96 points or 2.2 percent to close at 6,075.17.

For the week, the main index was still down by 1.4 percent from last Friday’s closing of 6,161.21 due to the bloodbath seen earlier in the week.

On Friday, all counters were up but the industrial, holding firm and property counters led the rally, all of them having risen by over 2 percent.

Turnover was heavy at P14.43 billion.

There were 100 advancers or nearly double the number of decliners, 53.

“Positive news for the Philippines is driving stock prices today. Selective buying is okay but manage cash and gains to avoid anxiety,” said fund manager Gus Cosio, president of First Metro Asset Management Inc.

The biggest PSEi gainers were EDC, URC, AGI, AEV and MPI which all surged by over 5 percent while RLC and Petron went up by over 4 percent. AP, DMCI and ALI rose by 3 percent. The most actively traded stocks were SMIC (+1.36 percent), ALI (+3.31 percent) and PLDT (+2.79 percent).

On the other hand, there was profit-taking on Jollibee (-3.59 percent) while SMC, JG Summit, Philex and Bloomberry also ended lower.

There was follow-through buying after Thursday’s report that the Philippine domestic economy had expanded by 7.5 percent in the second quarter year-on-year, the fastest growth seen in Southeast Asia, putting the country at par with China’s pace of growth.

The second quarter growth rate likewise exceeded market consensus forecast of 7.3 percent, resulting in upgrades of growth outlook for the full year.

Most Asian stock markets except those in Japan and China also gained ground on Friday as jitters over Syria eased.