Philippine shares rise on expectations of recovery

Expectations of the global economy’s recovery boosted Philippine shares on Monday, ending in a near two-week high. The bellwether 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index soared 139 points or 5.11 percent to 2,859.18, while the broader all shares surged 66.07 points or 3.7878 percent to 1,810.36. The last time that the main index ended at this level was on August 11, when it closed the session at 2,860.54. Market breadth was positive with 97 stocks advancing against 18 stocks which retreated and 46 unchanged issues. Similarly, the gains were felt across the board as all six sectoral indices closed in the green. The best performers were the property sector, with a 6.2505-percent climb, and holding firms which jumped 5.4233 percent. Volume also improved with 2.437-billion stocks worth P4.215 billion changing hands. "The main reason is that major economies are starting to recover. We played catch up because last Friday our market was closed and the news that Europe recovered resulted in a rally in the markets," said Peter Raymond Lee, IGC Securities analyst. Despite the bourse’s generally positive performance for the year, Lee said there's still room for more advance as it has yet to reach “overbought levels." "The recovery in other economies foretells our own recovery. The market views them as favorable. Asian economies, in particular, are leading the way and that the market is saying we're in that league," Lee said. Last week, an official of the National Economic and Development Authority projected that the economy likely performed between -0.1 and 0.9 percent. The official economic figure for the April to June period will be announced on Thursday. The market's performance also showed that it is turning into bulls, Lee said. Last Friday, Wall Street closed at its highest levels since November. In Asia, all bourses were trading higher, registering advances of between 0.68 percent and 3.35 percent. In the meantime, all top 20 most active stocks surged. Telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the day's top traded, leaped P115 or 4.7817 percent to P2,520. Manila Electric Co., the largest power distributor in the Philippines, soared P24 or 12.2449 percent to P220. Developer Megaworld Corp. climbed P0.18 or 14.5161 percent to P1.42 while rival Ayala Land Inc. jumped P0.30 or 3.0928 percent to P10. Andrew Tan-led Alliance Global Group Inc., which has interests in real estate and fast food, added P0.40 or 9.3023 percent at P4.70. - GMANews.TV