Index snaps skid on upbeat Wall St

MANILA, Philippines - Positive leads from Wall St. and bargain hunting allowed the main stock index to snap a two-day losing skid and return to the 6,800 level yesterday.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index added 0.99 percent or 66.87 points to close at 6,815.30, while the broader All Shares index gained 0.90 percent or 37.57 points to 4,233.33.

“We took leads from foreign markets. There were also less jitters in Korea and Cyprus,” Astro C. del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Finance Inc., said in a phone interview.

Some investors picked up bargains and are already positioning ahead of the earnings season late in April and May, Del Castillo added.

On Tuesday, Wall St. closed at record highs amid encouraging reports on automotive sales and factory orders in the US.

The Dow Jones industrial average inched up 0.6 percent or 89.16 points to 14,662.01, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 0.5 percent or 8.08 points to 1,570.25.

“We were affected by the optimism in Wall St.,” Del Castillo said.

In the local bourse, all counters were in the green for the first time this week, paced by property firms that rose 1.60 percent or 44.38 points to 2,810.76.

Most active shares were in the positive territory, led by SM Investments Corp. (up 0.8 percent), Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (up 0.83 percent) and Alliance Global Group Inc. (up 0.96 percent).