Blue chips lift Philippine stocks for 7th straight day

MANILA, Philippines- Local stocks rose for the seventh straight day on Monday, lifted by strong buying in index heavyweights, analysts said. The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index rose 28.65 points or 0.97 percent to 2,984.67 while the all-share index jumped 18.17 points or 1.00 percent to 1,827.11. Gainers outnumbered losers 69 to 35 while 42 stocks were unchanged. Volume traded reached 1.4 billion valued at P3.69 billion. Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Holdings, said that investors who think that the worst in the financial markets is over are snapping up blue chip issues. "PLDT was up and it recently announced a buyback program. People are now looking at emerging markets (after the turmoil in the equities markets) and we are a candidate," he said. Telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone co. surged P15 or 0.54 percent to P2,815. Geothermal power producer PNOC Energy Development Corp. soared P0.50 or 9.26 percent to P5.90. Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands jumped P1.50 or 2.91 percent to P53. Globe Telecom Inc., the country's second largest telecommunications firm climbed P15 or 1.01 percent to P1,505. Ayala Corp., the country's largest conglomerate, went up P5 or 1.28 percent to P395. - Cheryl Arcibal, GMANews.TV