Index up anew on strong buying momentum

MANILA, Philippines - Strong buying momentum allowed the main index to extend its gains for the seventh straight day despite the retreat in Wall Street and Asian markets.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 0.49 percent or 30.19 points to 6,170.05, while the broader all shares index rose 0.55 percent or 20.33 points to 3,739.36.

“Behavior is now shifting from a recognition and absorption of available information to a more specific reaction – that is buying,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., an analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp.

Calaycay said the momentum from the best single day climb this year, which was recorded on Wednesday, carried over to yesterday’s trades.

However, the slower pace of growth suggests a growing hesitation on the buy side as the index approaches the 6,200 level, Calaycay said.

The bellwether index bucked the lackluster performance of developed and regional markets.

On Wednesday, Wall Street ended mixed due to timid earnings reports. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 0.25 percent or 41.10 points to 16,373.34, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index barely rose 0.06 percent or 1.06 points to 1,844.86.

At home, all counters, save for the service sector that dropped 0.49 percent or 9.51 points to 1,923.49, were in the positive territory. Financial firms led the gainers as it climbed 1.54 percent or 23.26 points to 1,536.91.

Investor participation weakened, with P7.2 billion worth of shares changing hands from P8.28 billion on Wednesday.