Philippine stocks rebound; index recovers 155 points

MANILA, Philippines—Most local stock prices rebounded sharply on Wednesday, lifting the main index away from bear territory, as Germany’s assurance that it will help debt-strapped Greece boosted bargain-hunting.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index recouped 154.9 points or 4.16 percent to finish at 3,876.12.

“There’s renewed confidence following Germany’s affirmation of support to a European life-saver fund that will help problematic states inside the European Union,” said Joseph Roxas, president of local stock brokerage Eagle Equities Inc.

He said the local market caught up with the improvement in global investor sentiment after trading was suspended on Tuesday due to Typhoon Pedring.

All counters were up but the biggest rebound came from the mining/oil, holding firms and property counters which surged by 7.53 percent, 5.4 percent and 4.13 percent, respectively.

Turnover was heavy at P7.06 billion.

There were 130 advancers against only 33 decliners while 22 stocks were unchanged.

Investors snapped up shares of SM Investments, Metrobank , PLDT, AGI, SM Prime, Cebu Air, Aboitiz Power, AEV, BDO, ALI, EDC, Philex, ICTSI, Ayala Corp., San Miguel Corp. and BPI.  Bargain-hunters also picked up Lepanto “A” (open only to local investors) and Security Bank.

Petron preferred shares and Metro Pacific Investments bucked the day’s upswing.

Wall Street was upbeat overnight on optimism that Europe may find a resolution to the fiscal crisis hounding its weakest links.  Investors cheered a statement from Chancellor Angela Merkel that Germany would exhaust all means to help Greece regain investors’ confidence. Greece, which is facing debt default risks if it fails to receive bailout funds by mid-October, also said it would receive the much-needed lifeline.

The Dow Industrial Index jumped by 146.83 points or 1.3 percent overnight to close at 11,190.69. It has risen by about 419 points over the last two days, now recouping more than half of what was lost in last week’s bloodbath.