Stocks keep rising, but fail to scoop week's loss

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The stock market posted marginal gains today but not enough to fully recover what it lost in the entire week.

The bellwether Philippine stock Exchange index rose by 0.29 percent or 18.52 points to 6,346.40, while the broader all-share index added 0.11 percent or 4.26 points to 3,869.

Trading volume reached 984 million shares worth P6.85 billion ($157.18 million) with 74 stocks advancing, 74 declining, and 50 were unchanged.

Three of the six counters bucked the trend. These are the industrial, services, and the mining and oil sectors.

"Latest economic numbers elicited subdued optimism, providing clues on its resiliency amid the challenging global environment," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment.

The Philippines reported that merchandise exports posted a 4.9 percent year-on-year growth for September, which is significantly slower than the year-on-year 20.1 percent growth posted last year.

The analyst noted that the same figures raise concern over the country's immunity to the developments overseas.

Other economic figures investors can turn to for guidelines is the upcoming third quarter gross domestic product growth  to be released by the end of the month.

Nevertheless, Calaycay provided hope for investors. The analyst said the local equities' alternating days of gains and losses is a welcome sight, particularly coming off the heels of a seven- session slide.

"This indicates at the very least, the presence of bulls at the 6,200-mark is lying in wait," he said.

For the week, the index lost 0.13 percent.Stocks in the 30- company index closed mixed. Among those sold down were heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., and the LT Group, Inc.