Philippine shares rose Wednesday, fueled by “pent-up” demand from Tuesday’s suspended trading and Wednesday’s impressive Wall Street performance. The PSEi rose 0.46 percent or 24.51 points to close at 5,308.67.

 

“Buying that could have been yesterday was carried over today,” said Raul Ruiz, vice president for research at RCBC Securities Inc.

 

Oliver Plana, head of sales at Asiasec Equities Inc, added that investors are feeling venturesome on account of US stock rallies in the past three days.

 

Overnight, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 51.09 points or 0.39 percent to close at 13,168.60, Reuters reported. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 7.12 points, or 0.51 percent, at 1,401.35, while the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 25.95 points or 0.87 percent at 3,015.86.

 

The “pent up” demand manifested itself in the market turn-over high of P6.1 billion. The average in the past weeks was from P4 to P5 billion.

 

Over 1.5 billion issues were traded. Losers led winners 80 to 71, with 55 issues unchanged.

 

Most foreigners bought shares from main driver Ayala Land Inc. at P24 per share or up 5.07 percent, Ruiz noted.

 

The drivers of the PSEi, Ayala Land Inc. and Bank of the Philippine Islands, added 19.05 points and 10.95 points to the index, respectively.

 

Meanwhile, the release on Wednesday of the consumer price index – at 3.2 percent or “close to the consensus” of 3.1 percent – could have also encouraged more buying than selling, Ruiz said.

 

For Plana, however, the release of the CPI was a “non-event,” noting that August inflation could spike up due to the heavy rains and floods – to most investors’ dismay. — DVM, GMA News