(UPDATE) Bourse recovers on bargain hunting

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Bargain hunting among investors allowed the Philippine stock market to recover today.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0. 71 percent, or 50.77 points, to 7,247.03, while the broader all- share index added 0.63 percent, or 26.57 points, to 4,277.09.

Trading volume reached 29.77 billion shares worth P8.92 billion ($199.39 million) with 96 stocks advancing, 69 declining, and 49 unchanged.

All six counters were up.

"Beyond the politics of Occupy Central in Hong Kong, investors are becoming concerned over its impact on the global economy. The uncertainty over the stand-off has obviously placed a heavy drag on sentiments," analyst Justino Calaycay said in his daily stock market.

While the market closed today's session strong, the week has been dominated by profit takers who pulled the index down to as low as 7,196 even after hitting the historic intra-day high of 7, 400.

"As the issue in Hong Kong drags on, the global investment community will remain riveted to the unfolding events and react on a day-by-day basis," Calaycay said.

today's respite does not change the reality that Hong Kong's problem has added to other global concerns such as the threat of the Islamic State militants, and the U.S. interest-rate watch.

"Thus, we have seen that the PSEi is capable of rewriting all- time records but in the same breath, it is equally capable of erasing all such gains. This is unmistakably a reflection of the unease investors are feeling even as they believe all remains well, " Calaycay said.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly up. These include heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Ayala Land, Inc., and the Bank of Philippine Islands.