Philippine share prices close up

MANILA, Philippines—Local share prices rose for the fifth straight session Thursday, tracking gains on Wall Street.

The main Philippine Stock Exchange Index closed 0.36 percent, or 14.77 points, higher at 4,134.48, while the broader all-shares index was up 0.61 percent to 2,939.40.

Gainers outnumbered decliners 84 to 64, while 34 issues were unchanged. Subsectors posted gains, except for industrial shares that lost 0.55 percent.

Gainers were SCC (3.59 percent), SMPH (2.95 percent), SM (2.35 percent) and PX (1.51 percent).

Also on the gainers’ list was Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., rising by 1.48 percent. The market heavyweight was the day’s most actively traded stock.

Losers were BEL (3.47 percent), MER (3.05 percent), MEG (2.30 percent), RLC (2.14 percent) and MPI (1.93 percent).

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.90 percent, or 102.55 points, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 and Nasdaq indices were up by 0.98 percent and 0.84 percent, respectively.

The gains on Wall Street were driven by investors’ hope that policymakers in the world’s largest economies would be able to prevent another global financial meltdown.

A local brokerage house noted that the upcoming release of third-quarter earnings reports by listed firms provided support for local shares.—Paolo G. Montecillo