Stocks rise on upbeat economic developments abroad

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The stock market closed today's session higher on the back of positive economic developments in China and the United States.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index rose by 0.89 percent, or 54.16 points, to 6,167.82, while the broader all-share index added 0.76 percent, or 28.05 points, to 3,733.61.

Trading volume reached 1.11 billion shares worth P6.59 billion ($147.3 million) with 97 stocks advancing, 54 declining, and 46 remaining unchanged.

All six counters were up.

"Favorable lending numbers from China added fodder to the Dow Jones' 126-point surge on Friday," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment.

These developments, he said, allowed the local equities to carry last week's momentum when the index finished the week with a 1.71-percent gain.

Calaycay also said the local bourse was also buoyed by the earnings of local firms which were in line with investors' expectations, allowing the index to breach the 6,170 interim resistance level.

"Trading in the next couple of weeks will focus on individual corporate profit numbers," he said.

Stocks in the 30-company index were up. These include Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., SM Investments Corp., and Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc.