Philippine bourse closes higher despite growing consumer loans

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market rallied to a new high today as it retested the 7,800 level.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index rose by 0.11 percent or 8.75 points to 7,793.40, while the broader all-share index added 0.28 percent or 12.50 points to 4,522.65.

Trading volume reached 1.72 billion shares worth P6.65 billion ($150.28 million) with 93 stocks advancing, 81 declining, and 48 unchanged.

Of the six counters, only the holding firm sector bucked the trend.

"There is little doubt that the market remains in the hand of the bulls - but it equally suggests the bears are making their presence felt," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment.

The analyst said it is now a question of what motivates the bears, on one hand, and given the slowing pace as the PSEi gets closer to 7800, what prevents the bulls from pushing further.

"It all boils down to a matter of balancing timing and prudence. Both sides agree on one thing - there is room for upside and the bull still has legs to run on," he said.

While the US equities was closed Monday night in observance of George Washington's birthday, Calaycay said local developments such as a sustained growth in consumer loans provided investors some reason to stay hooked in the local equities despite the continuing uptrend of the market.

Stocks in the 30-company index closed mixed. Investors picked up shares of Megaworld Corp., Ayala Land, Inc., and SM Prime Holdings, Inc.