Index surges 52 pts on end of quarter window dressing

Share prices closed 1.64 percent higher yesterday, lifted by a rebound on Wall Street and end of quarter window dressing dealers said.

They said investors had also been encouraged by expectations that inflation would remain low. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects consumer prices to rise this month by two to 2.6 percent year-on-year compared to 2.6 percent last month.

The composite index rose 51.83 points to 3,203.55 after moving between 3,167.81 and 3,208.96.

The broader all-share index climbed 29.78 points to 2,046.76. Gainers edged out losers 74 to 39, while 53 stocks ended unchanged. Volume was 5.5 billion shares worth P7.5 billion.

Dealers said investor sentiment improved after better-than-expected, fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the United States and indications the US Federal Reserve will keep interest rates at current levels.

"The market is still basically taking its lead from Wall Street, and such assurances somehow eased, fro the moment, worries about a potential hard landing of the US economy," said Jose Vistan of AP Capital Securities.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) extended the overnight gains of its New York-traded American Depository Receipts, rising P25 to P2,525.

Rival Globe Telecom Inc. gained five to P1,230.

Conglomerate Ayala Corp. climbed P15 to P560.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. advanced 50 centavos to P11.50.

Megaworld Corp. inched up 15 centavos to P3.35.

Food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp.’s shares, restricted to local investors, and its B shares, open to foreign investors, were steady at P64.50 and P71.50, respectively.

"The US GDP data eased concern about a hard landing and a no-interest-rate-increase scenario in the US is good for local equities,’’ said Jose Vistan, head of research at AB Capital Securities Inc. in Manila.

In the US, the Philippines’ biggest export market and No. 1 source of remittances from overseas workers, gross domestic product expanded at a 2.5-percent annual rate last quarter, while a gauge of prices tied to consumer spending rose less than forecast, a government report showed yesterday.

"The market got a shot in the arm with news from the US," said Rommel Macapagal, chairman at Westlink Global Equities in Manila. — AFP