Shares rebound today; focus on gaming stocks

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market rebounded today after investors found Monday's sell-off an opportunity to position on selected issues.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index jumped by 1.12 percent or 74.16 points to 6,711.72. The broader all-share index rose by 0.8 percent or 33.30 points to 4,205.37.

Trading volume reached 1.97 billion shares worth P12.66 billion ($311.01 million) with 84 stocks advancing, 70 declining, and 56  unchanged.

All six counters were up.

"The two-day retreat of the main index is a welcome respite from an almost unbridled run," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said.

The analyst said technical indicators are suggesting that the two-day drop has eased off the overbought level of the Philippine stock market, which will make certain issues even more inviting.

This, Calaycay said, is backed by the fact that the outlook to the local economy remains positive and returns on alternative assets remain low.

"Over the next two weeks, speculative trading, particularly on gaming stocks, may dominate investor interest. This should give fundamentalists the opportunity to hunt for bargains ahead of the release of the first quarter numbers and technicians some breathing room," Calaycay said.

After rallying by almost 8 percent on Monday, shares of Bloomberry Resorts Corp. dropped 3.73 percent of its value today.

Calaycay said investors are starting to pluck up its shares ahead of the March 16 opening of Solaire, reputed to be the biggest - if not the best  = gaming facility in town, at par with its counterparts in Las Vegas.

BLOOM will also become part of the PSEI basket effective March 11, replacing SM Development Corp.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly up. These issues include Ayala Corp., heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), and Globe Telecom, Inc.

In other corporate news, PLDT officials said the company's reported net income in 2012 rose 12 percent on year to P35.5 billion ($870.74 million). These results reflect the consolidation of the operating performance of Digital Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. which PLDT acquired in October 2011.

Consolidated core net income, before exceptional items, however declined four percent on year to P37.3 billion ($914.89 million). This was due to higher operating expenses relating mainly to the manpower reduction programs at PLDT, Smart and Digitel and selling and promotions initiatives.

Overall consolidated service revenues for 2012 increased by 10 percent to P169.3 billion ($4.15 billion) on higher revenues brought by their wireless, fixed line and business process outsourcing divisions.