Stocks sustain rally, hit new peak

MANILA, Philippines - The main stock index moved closer to uncharted territory as investors cheered positive prospects of economic and corporate income growth in the country.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index or PSEi climbed 0.7 percent or 42.15 points to close at 6,093.90, marking the seventh time the bellwether index reached an all-time high this year.

The broader All Shares index also gained 0.53 percent or 20.09 points to end at 3,837.14.

“We expected barometers to move higher driven by expectations of improved earnings growth for 2013,” Grace Cerdenia, analyst at brokerage firm 2Trade-Asia.com, said in a phone interview.

“Bulk of the gains were driven by property and financial firms that are sensitive to inflation and interest rates,” she said, adding that interest and inflation rates are likely to remain low.

All sub-indices were in the green, led by financial companies that advanced 1.53 percent or 24.06 points to 1,599.10 while property companies rebounded from a slump last Friday, adding 1.48 percent or 34.81 points to close at 2,381.35 yesterday.

Market breadth was positive as advancers outpaced decliners, 94 to 71, while 44 stocks did not change. Value of shares traded slightly eased to P9.28 billion from P9.43 billion on Friday.

Cerdenia said the main index might pierce the 6,100 mark “barring any unforeseen negative events abroad like disappointing industrial numbers in United Kingdom and US.”