Bourse closes higher on performance of US equities

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market opened the shortened trading week positively albeit on light trading.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 0.14 percent or 11.20 points to 7,784.65, while the broader all-share index rose by 0.09 percent or 4.15 points to 4,510.15.

Trading volume reached 2.46 billion shares worth P6.30 billion ($142.31 million) with 86 stocks advancing, 87 declining, and 54 were unchanged.

Two of the six counters bucked the trend. These were the services and the mining and oil sectors.

"Monday's optimism came from positive closes in both US and European equities Friday," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment.

Other developments that boosted local share prices was news of the peace accord that took effect over the weekend, which the analyst said was a step closer to a resolution of the crisis in Ukraine.

Likewise, Germany and Greece are continuing talks to thresh out major differences in reference to conditions of the previous bail- out also helped the market on Monday.

"Gains were capped at under the 30-point mark, enough to push the measure briefly into the 7,800-mark twice," Calaycay said.

Individual stocks rallied to their recent highs but eased back on a mild degree of profit-taking. Investors sold down heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. but picked up Megaworld and Ayala Land, Inc. shares.