Philippine share prices flat, track Wall Street's mixed close
12/17/2009 | 03:44 PM
Local share prices barely moved on Thursday, tracking Wall Street's mixed close overnight after the Federal Reserve, which said market conditions were helping the recovery but weakness would persist, left interest rates unchanged.
"The market is still looking for market-moving news," said analyst Jasper Jimenez of BDO Securities Corp., adding that for the past two weeks, the stock market had not made big strides.
He said he did not expect the market to move significantly before the year closes, although investors might hunt for bargains in select stocks of banking and property companies.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 0.52 percent or 15.78 points to close at 3,048.15, while the all-shares index added 0.4 percent or 7.76 points to 1,901.4.
Losers beat gainers 59 to 42, while 62 stocks were unchanged. Volume reached 1.65 billion shares worth P3.97 billion.
On Wednesday night, the Dow Jones industrial average fell by 0.1 percent or 11 points, while the S&P 500 index added 0.1 percent or a point. The Nasdaq composite also gained 0.3 percent or 6 points.
The Federal Reserve released its final policy statement of the year, saying it would hold the federal fund rate, a key overnight bank lending rate, unchanged at historic lows near 0%. The rate has remained there for a year.
Jimenez said the market has not corrected for a long time in the absence of major news. Investors have also expected the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to keep rates until the second half of next year.
"With that, the stock market will still be one of those sound investment vehicles. In general, the US economy has also been quite resilient and still positive," he pointed out..
At Thursday's trading, four of the six subindices closed higher, led by industrial stocks, which went up by 0.99 percent or 45.24 points to finish at 4,624.66.
Holding firms also closed 0.94 percent or 14.76 points stronger at 1,581.11, while financial companies gained 0.83 percent or 5.48 points to 669.65. Service stocks likewise went up by 0.45 percent or 6.7 points to close at 1,503.3.
On the other hand, the mining and oil index declined by 1.93 percent or 207.99 points to 10,583.14, while property companies slid by 0.47 percent or 5.13 points to close at 1,089.33.
Benguet Corp. A shares closed a quarter higher at P13.75, while Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. added 5.81 percent to end at P4.55.
Another Lopez company, First Gen Corp., went up by 4.69 percent to P16.75, while miner Apex Mining Co. added 3.51 percent to finish at P2.95.
On the other hand, shares of East Asia Power Resources Corp. lost 7.41 percent to 25 centavos, while Jolliville Holdings Corp. slid by 5.26 percent to P1.80. — Norman P. Aquino, GMANews.TV
"The market is still looking for market-moving news," said analyst Jasper Jimenez of BDO Securities Corp., adding that for the past two weeks, the stock market had not made big strides.
He said he did not expect the market to move significantly before the year closes, although investors might hunt for bargains in select stocks of banking and property companies.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 0.52 percent or 15.78 points to close at 3,048.15, while the all-shares index added 0.4 percent or 7.76 points to 1,901.4.
Losers beat gainers 59 to 42, while 62 stocks were unchanged. Volume reached 1.65 billion shares worth P3.97 billion.
On Wednesday night, the Dow Jones industrial average fell by 0.1 percent or 11 points, while the S&P 500 index added 0.1 percent or a point. The Nasdaq composite also gained 0.3 percent or 6 points.
The Federal Reserve released its final policy statement of the year, saying it would hold the federal fund rate, a key overnight bank lending rate, unchanged at historic lows near 0%. The rate has remained there for a year.
Jimenez said the market has not corrected for a long time in the absence of major news. Investors have also expected the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to keep rates until the second half of next year.
"With that, the stock market will still be one of those sound investment vehicles. In general, the US economy has also been quite resilient and still positive," he pointed out..
At Thursday's trading, four of the six subindices closed higher, led by industrial stocks, which went up by 0.99 percent or 45.24 points to finish at 4,624.66.
Holding firms also closed 0.94 percent or 14.76 points stronger at 1,581.11, while financial companies gained 0.83 percent or 5.48 points to 669.65. Service stocks likewise went up by 0.45 percent or 6.7 points to close at 1,503.3.
On the other hand, the mining and oil index declined by 1.93 percent or 207.99 points to 10,583.14, while property companies slid by 0.47 percent or 5.13 points to close at 1,089.33.
Benguet Corp. A shares closed a quarter higher at P13.75, while Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. added 5.81 percent to end at P4.55.
Another Lopez company, First Gen Corp., went up by 4.69 percent to P16.75, while miner Apex Mining Co. added 3.51 percent to finish at P2.95.
On the other hand, shares of East Asia Power Resources Corp. lost 7.41 percent to 25 centavos, while Jolliville Holdings Corp. slid by 5.26 percent to P1.80. — Norman P. Aquino, GMANews.TV
