Index ends up in last trading day of the year

Share prices moved in an erratic manner in the last trading day of the year but a late kick spurred by buying in heavyweight stocks punctuated a mild rise at the close.

The 30-company Phisix and the broader All-Shares index retraced the positive route for a second day as investors continued on a bargain-hunting and window-dressing spree in an attempt to enhance their yearend stock portfolio, although there were also some profit-taking on the side.

The main index ended 8.04 points or 0.54 percent higher to 1,494.50, boosted by gains in PLDT, San Miguel B, Ayala Corp., Equitable PCI Bank and Ionics, while the All-Shares benchmark went up 23.32 points or 2.89 percent to 829.93 due to the increases in Sun Life. Manulife and Globe Telecom stocks.

There were more advancers than losers, 47 to 32, with 35 other issues unchanged as value turnover surged to P1.71 billion. More than half of which were trades in Keppel stocks.

Keppel Philippines Marine (formerly Kepphil Shipyard Inc.) was the most dominant stock with P774.86 million worth or 45.3 percent of total transactions dealt at the bourse while its sister company Keppel Philippines Properties Inc. followed with 7.8 percent of aggregate deals.

Both units of the Singapore-based conglomerate were traded at fixed prices: KPM stood at P0.71 while KEP was at P1.10, following a capital restructuring of the Keppel group in the Philippines approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission last Dec. 21.

The realignment involves the reduction in the capital stock of their parent company, Keppel Philippines Holdings, by way of a return of capital to stockholders in the form of KPM and KEP shares.

Yesterday’s trading was also perked up by a series of block worth a combined P3,706 billion in Bank of the Philippine Islands. The SEC-approved special sale involved over 39 million shares priced at P94.40 each from three selling parties: the group of retail king Henry Sy, the Phinma group and the Philamlife group.

The buyer was Ayala OBS Holdings Inc., the joint venture vehicle between BPI’s controlling Ayala group and the Development Bank of Singapore to further consolidate their holdings in the country’s second largest bank network. At the trading floor, BPI shares were unchanged at P58.

Among the blue chip gainers were PLDT, which went up P20 to P865; San Miguel B, up P1 to P55.50; Ayala Corp., adding 10 centavos to P7.70; Ionics, jumping P1 to P15.75; ABS-CBN, increasing P1 to P49.50 and Globe Telecom, higher by P15 to P700.

Ending the year on the red, on the other hand, were Meralco B, down P1 to P49.50; Ayala Land, less 10 centavos to P5.40; SM Prime, declining 10 centavos to P5.80; and Fairmont Holdings, cutting one centavo to P0.83.