Phl bourse rallies on US stocks' gains

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market extended its rally today following the positive performance of the Dow Jones industrial average index last Friday.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 0.52 percent, or 31.11 points, to 6,042.25, while the broader all-share index rose by 0.58 percent, or 21.37 points, to 3,677.30.

Trading volume reached 2.59 billion shares worth P5.96 billion ($132.37 million) with 82 stocks advancing, 63 declining, and 46 were unchanged.

Of the six counters, only the property sector bucked the trend.

"Spillover from Friday's performance might continue early this week, on hopes further economic gains would aid in investors' perception for corporate earnings growth," 2TradeAsia.com said.

Should Wall Street make another ascent, the brokerage said investors might see the market posting more gains especially after Philippine monetary officials decided to maintain record-low policy rates.

Dow Jones posted a gain of 165.55 points on Friday despite a weak job reports.

2TradeAsia.com said it sees immediate support to be at 6,000, while resistance is pegged at 6,040 to 6,050.

Stocks in the 30-company index closed mixed. SM Investments Corp., Alliance Global Group, Inc., and JG Summit Holdings, Inc.