Index rises four days in a row

MANILA, Philippines - The stock market rose for the fourth consecutive trading days with most indices ending in positive territory.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exhange (PSE) index climbed 12.30 points to close at  7,665.52, while the All Shares index was 5.62 points higher at 4,375.15 points.

Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital said the 2016 elections, Greece debt woes, the slump in China stocks, global oil and commodity prices and the impending increase in US interest rates would be foremost in investors’ minds when the market returns to action next week.

 “We still see the index testing the 7,700 mark, an effort stymied by intermittent profit taking.  Investors are still showing less patience to hold stocks on the upside than they do in pricing their buys when the market goes lower ,’’ Calaycay said.

Market breadth, however, was negative, with decliners edging out advancers, 94 to 74, and 44 issues unchanged.

Value turnover reached P5.80 billion, as 2.98 billion shares changed hands. Counters were mixed, with the mining and oil counter keeping the overall market in the green with a 0.67 percent gain. Financials and holding firms, however, were in the red, retreating by 0.07 percent and 0.02 percent, respectively.