Positive Q1 earnings results boost RP stocks

Philippine share prices returned on its uptrend on Friday, after a drop on the previous session, as investors cheered positive first quarter earnings results released by the country's conglomerates Before the Thursday's fall, stock prices were on a four-day upturn. The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 22.4 points or 0.67 percent to 3,364.61 while the all share index rose 13.2 4 points, or 0.62 percent to 2,141.58. Ron Rodrigo, Unicapital Securities Inc. research head, said the market favorably responded to the "surprising positive corporate earnings." "Yesterday big companies such as Ayala Corp., Aboitiz Equity Ventures and SM Investments Corp. gave positive numbers," he said in a telephone interview. Rodrigo noted that most of the Asian markets were on a downturn but the local bourse bucked the trend. He added that for next week, when the actual elections will take place, the market is expected to consolidate on a narrow range. "When we say narrow range, we mean anywhere between 3,300 to 3,380," Rodrigo said. Besides election, any decision on the interest rates is also expected to maneuver the direction where the market would be heading. Some 62 stocks closed higher, 48 declined and 57 remained unchanged. Volume traded reached 3.84 billion valued at P3.75 billion. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the Philippines' largest telecommunications firm, lost P5 to close at P2,550. SM Prime Holdings Inc., the largest mall operator of the Philippines, was steady at P12. Developer Megaworld Corp. gained P.10 to close at P3.65, a 2.8169-percent improvement. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company, the country's largest lender, was unchanged at P61.50. APC Group Inc., which has interests in mining, among others, gained P0.10 or 15.15 percent at P0.76. - Cheryl Arcibal, GMANews.TV