RP stocks gain 1.35%; bomb threat ignored

(Updated 3:36 p.m.) Share prices on the Philippine Stock Exchange closed higher in moderate trading that was halted by a bomb threat during the mid-morning session only to be resumed at 1 p.m. after police and private security agents found no explosive device at the Ayala trading floor in the financial district of Makati. In fact, the PSE index rose to a new record high, traders said. “The market completely ignored the [bomb threat] and treated it as an inconvenience," said Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist of BDO Universal Bank. Inc. The PSE index gained 57.01 points or 1.35 percent to close at 4,249.17, according to the exchange’s market bulletin as of 2 p.m. "Notwithstanding the security incident at the Philippine Stock Exchange Trading Floor in Makati, which occurred earlier this morning, the market continued its rally to end at a new historic high," the PSE said in a statement. More than 1.244 billion shares worth P3.498 billion changed hands. Gainers led loser 78 to 44 with 39 issues closing unchanged from Wednesday’s close. Instead of focusing on the bomb threat Philippine market participants took their cue from Wall Street, which recovered overnight, said Ravelas. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average on Wednesday rallied 129.35 points, or 1.2 percent, to 11,107.97, lifted by a batch of strong earnings results from companies like Delta Air Lines Inc. and Boeing Co., according to an Associated Press report Thursday. New York stocks fell on Tuesday, so there was bargain hunting, Ravelas said. For Philippine stocks, “we have a strong peso and stable interest rates. And these would translate into good corporate results," he said. These are the things that moved the market today, not the bomb story, he added. The Philippine Stock Exchange management, headed by president and CEO Val Antonio Suarez, decided to resume trading that was aborted during a bomb threat. "We are grateful to our trading participants and employees for taking time off from their lunch breaks to continue trading in the afternoon. Their collective efforts to support the market have been rewarded by this record index performance," Suarez said.— VS, GMANews.TV