Market climbs as investors chase bargains anew

Share prices closed 0.60 percent higher Monday as investors chased bargains for a second consecutive session despite lower than expected economic growth in the three months to March, dealers said.

They said market players were not too surprised with the first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data which reflected the impact of high oil prices, sluggish exports and weaker farm output.

The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index added 11.20 points to close at 1,886.61 having traded between 1,873.22 and 1,888.53.

Volume reached 383.8 million shares worth P526.2 million.

Gainers outnumbered losers 40 to 17, with 45 stocks ending unchanged.

The broader all-shares index gained 7.45 points to 1,152.66.

The government reported yesterday GDP grew at a slower pace of 4.6 percent in the first quarter compared to 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004, with poor agriculture output weighing on the economy.

Despite the weaker-than-expected first quarter performance, Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri said the government is keeping its full-year GDP growth target at 5.3-6.3 percent, hoping the economy will recover in the second half.

"Investors have long discounted that economic growth would soften in the first quarter and was not really a factor in today’s trade. Today’s movement was more a continuation of (Friday’s) technical recovery," Accord Capital Equities analyst Ron Rodrigo said.

"Chart-wise, there were buying signals at (the market’s current) level."

"We are going through some period of consolidation, with a slight upward bias. The market is trying to build a strong base (within which to anchor a rally)," said Gomer Tan, an analyst at Regina Capital Development Corp.

Dealers said most foreign investors have continued to stay out of the market as they await the outcome of a Senate investigation on the alleged involvement of President Gloria Arroyo’s husband and lawmaker son with the operations of an illegal numbers game.

SM Investments was the most actively traded stock gaining a peso to close at P250.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. rose P30 to P1,470.

San Miguel B, available to foreign investors, rose P1.50 to P86 while San Miguel A, limited to local buyers, fell 50 centavos to P58.

Ayala Land fell 10 centavos to P7.60. – AFP