Philippine shares rise as traders take cues from Wall Street

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine share prices rose on Tuesday, supported by Wall Street’s positive turnout overnight, analysts said. The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index went up by 5.6 points to 2,593.51 while the broader all shares index also rose 9.45 points to 1,656.29 points. Although the market came on strong during the first few hours of Tuesday’s trading, investors felt selling pressure later on, Nikka Maloles, investment analyst at 2Trade Asia. “Bargain hunting during the early hours resulted in a sell-off as investors cashed in on their gains," Maloles said. Despite the sell-off and the lack of fresh leads, the market remained in the green as traders took their guidance from the Dow Jones industrial average. The Dow climbed 104.21 points, or 1.2 percent, to 8,848.15. Market breadth was positive with 58 gainers against 47 losers with 53 stocks which closed unchanged. Volume was brisk with 1.74 billion stocks traded worth P3.688 billion. Save for property and services, the PSE’s subindices ended in the green. Although the property index shed 2.35 points to 877.81, it nevertheless “took center stage" as investors engaged in profit-taking, Maloles said. The investment analyst cited positive news such as the rise in remittances and lower interest rates, which both help in boosting the sector. The services sector also fell 8.37 points to 1,337.83. Of the remaining four sub-indices, mining and oil took the lead, rising 116.36 points to 6,595.04; followed by industrial shares which went up 47.77 points to 3,791.64; holding firms which climbed 3.22 points to 1.421.98 and financials to 1.54 points to 572.19. At the local market, telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. declined by P25 or 1.04 percent to P2,370. Alternative power producer PNOC-Energy Development Corp. stayed unchanged at P4.15. First Philippine Holdings Corp. rose by one peso to P36.00. Bank of the Philippine Islands also stayed the same at P45.00. Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. was also unchanged at P6.60. - GMANews.TV