Stocks rally on positive developments abroad

MOST LOCAL stocks on Friday rose, alongside upbeat offshore markets, as investors loaded up on blue chips, taking position for the second semester of 2011.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index racked up 60.42 points, or 1.4 percent, to 4,351.63. The index is now nearing the record of 4,413 set in November 2010.

The index thus ended 1.4 percent higher for the week and was about 3.6 percent ahead of its end-2010 level of around 4,200.

“We broke a critical barrier at 4,340 so this could be the onset of a new upswing which will break the market’s all-time high level of 4,413 within this month,” said Manny Cruz of Asiasec Equities Inc.

Cruz said the Philippines and Indonesia had been benefiting from the resumption of foreign buying since Wednesday given the renewed optimism on emerging markets.

The day’s upswing was aided by the rebound of index heavyweight PLDT after a three-day slump. The drop in the telco’s share price was triggered by a Supreme Court ruling questioning its foreign equity limit.

PLDT’s rise buoyed the services counter, which posted the steepest climb for the day. All other counters were up.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P5.28 billion. There were 87 advancers against 46 decliners, while 34 stocks were unchanged.

There was net foreign buying amounting to P387 million during the session.

PLDT, the day’s most actively traded stock, rebounded by 2.9 percent, or P68.00, to finish at P2,380.

Other index gainers were EDC, AGI, Petron, Metrobank, Banco de Oro, BPI, ICTSI, Aboitiz Power, DMCI, Ayala Land, Metro Pacific Investments, Megaworld and Ayala Corp. GERI (formerly Fil-Estate), San Miguel Corp. and Atlas likewise gained on heavy trade.

Investors also took heart from the overnight rally on Wall Street due to optimism on the resolution of the fiscal crisis in Greece. The Dow Jones Industrial Index was up by 152.92 points, or 1.25 percent, to 12,414.34.  Doris C. Dumlao