Blue chips lift Philippine stocks by 0.89%

Philippine stocks rose on Monday as the local bourse was pulled up by advances made by blue-chip issues, analysts said. The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index climbed 29.17 points or 0.89 percent to 3,323.25 while the all-share index surged 20.09 points or 1.01 percent to 2,015.67. Gainers trampled losers 72 to 25 while 50 stocks were steady. Volume traded reached 1.78 billion valued at P3.017 billion. Emmanuel Soller, Equitiworld Sercurities Inc. stockbroker, said market heavyweights such as Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. lifted the market. "The individual fundamentals of these companies and other blue chip issues propped up the market today," he said. Telecommunications giant PLDT soared P20 or 0.67 percent to P3,010. Metrobank, the country's largest lender in terms of assets, jumped P3 or 7.32 percent to P44. Globe Telecom Inc., the country's second-largest telecommunications company, gained P40 or 2.5 percent at P1,640. Conglomerate Ayala Corp. was unchanged at P472.50. Lopez-led power distributor Manila Electric Co. fell P1 or 1.19 percent to P83. - Cheryl Arcibal, GMANews.TV