Stocks advance 10 pts on technical correction

Share prices wavered in and out of the red in another lean trading yesterday before stepping up late in the session to finish slightly higher, as investors begin to warm up on the impeachment proceedings against President Estrada.

The Phisix ended at 1,400.36 or 9.69 points (0.7 percent) higher as the number of advancing stocks paced losers, 41 to 24, with the remaining 34 issues unchanged.

But the broader All-Shares Index moved in the opposite direction, retreating 3.35 points or 1.24 percent to 746.37 mainly due to the pullback in Manulife and Sun Life shares.

The Canadian insurers’ stocks followed their slide in Wall Street, with Sun Life shedding P15 to P1,105 and Manulife plunging P60 to P1,300.

Except for the mining counter, all sub-indices landed in positive terrain, led by the 2.62-percent climb in the property sector with real estate stocks such as by SM Prime, Ayala Land, Phil-Realty, Fil-Estate and MRC Allied reaping gains.

But the most influential mover was telecom giant PLDT, which made up a fourth of total deals valued at P623.56 million. The stock gained P5 to P800.

Other blue chip advancers were Meralco B (up P1 to P44.50); Metrobank (up P1 to P169); ABS-CBN and its PDRs (up P1 and 50 centavos to P48 and P47, respectively); and Bank of Philippine Island’s (up 50 centavos to P57).

Newly-listed Corro-Coat was the day’s second highest gainer as its stock rose almost 22 percent to close at P1.66 or 28 centavos more than its IPO price of P1.28.

Among the losers, on the other hand, were Equitable PCI Bank (down P1 to P53.50); Fairmont Holdings (down eight centavos to P1.26); Ionics Corp. (down 50 centavos to P14.75); and Cosmos Bottling (down four centavos to P2.30).

San Miguel’s A and B shares were steady at P48.60 and P51, respectively as the food and beverage conglomerate reported a 20-percent jump in net profit to P5.4 billion in the first 10 months of the year.

Globe Telecom’s common shares and PDRs increased by P10 and P5, respectively following a favorable report from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) that the Ayala-owned cellular company has the capacity to service its growing mobile subscriber base.

Meanwhile, Manila Jockey Club corporate secretary Ferdinand Domingo informed the PSE that the company’s board had approved "to consider proposals for the development of the real estate properties of MJCI located at San Lazaro, Manila, including the possible sale of portions thereof to interested developers."

"The action was prompted by the desire of the (MJCI) Board to hasten the development of its real estate properties into mixed-use real estate development projects," Domingo said.

At the Philippine Dealing System, the peso has recovered against the dollar in midday trading, averaging P50.133.