Index hits new record high as market continues to rise

MANILA, Philippines - Local stocks ended Friday with a bang, sending the main composite index to a new record high, bolstered by upbeat economic data from here and the US and tracking gains from Asian markets which reportedly have entered a bullish phase.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) surged 77.69 points to finish at 5,016.30, mainly driven by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ decision to cut interest rates and some positive data on the US labor market. The local stock market has risen 14.74 percent since the start of the year.

A total of 3.15 billion shares worth P7.11 billion changed hands yesterday. Advancers led losers 96 to 66 while 38 were unchanged. 

Investors snapped up shares of property giant Ayala Land, rising 4.48 percent to P21 each share, AEV (3.31 percent at P49.90), BPI (2.86 percent at P72), AC (3.92 percent at P424) and Aboitiz Power (3.59 percent at P33.15).

All sectors were in the green including interest rate sensitive property and banking issues which added 2.26 percent and 1.27 percent, respectively.

“A positive ending to the week raises hopes of sustaining an uptrend in the first full week of March. Rising oil prices in the world market, caused by a perceived escalation of tensions in Iran, presents downside risks, momentarily drawing attention away from Europe,” said Jun Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Inc.

All sectors were in the green, including interest rate sensitive property and banking issues which added 2.26 percent and 1.27 percent, respectively. The broader All Shares Index inched a little less than a percent higher. The market now posts a 14.74 percent year-to-date gain, among the leaders among global bourses.

Meanwhile,  Asian stocks rose Friday as the US jobs market showed new signs of improvement and global banks avoided a hit from Greece’s debt crisis.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.7 percent to 9,776.53 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1 percent to 21,595.90. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3 percent to 2,035.86. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.3 percent to 4,268.60.

Banks around the world are on the hook for as much as $70 billion in bond insurance payments if Greece defaults on its debt. But a panel ruled that Greece’s plan to restructure its debt should not trigger any insurance payments, at least for now.

The panel, which had been convened by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, had been asked by investors to rule whether the plan to swap existing debt for new bonds of lower value and longer maturity constituted a so-called credit event. It ruled that the Greek bond deal was still being carried out and did not yet constitute a credit event — but that the question could come up again.

Meanwhile, in the latest sign of improvement in the U.S. jobs market, the number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest point since March 2008. The four-week average was also the lowest in four years.

Analysts said investors are also looking to the opening Monday of the annual meeting of the ceremonial Chinese legislature, which is used by the government as a platform to announce its policy direction for the coming year.

Investors expect to see measures to help prop up domestic demand as well as looser reins on lending to try to boost growth, said Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong.

“Right now, exports from mainland China are not so good, so they have to do more things to push up domestic demand,” he said.

That expectation helped push up some lesser known companies that produce for the local Chinese market, such as Hong Kong-listed TV maker Skyworth Digital, which rose 2.6 percent.

Tokyo-based Elpida Memory Ltd. plummeted 29 percent. The company, the only manufacturer in Japan to specialize in DRAM chips used in mobile phones and computers, filed for bankruptcy protection Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent to close at 12,980.30 on Thursday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 0.6 percent to close at 1,374.09. The Nasdaq composite average rose 0.7 percent to 2,988.97.—with AP