PHL shares up on selective buying in blue chips

The Philippine Stock Exchange index surged 1.52 percent Friday on the back of selective buying in blue chip shares. AB Capital Securities Inc. analyst Prince Yeung said the PSEi got a boost from Aboitiz Power Corp. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. after posting flat gains early this week. Share prices of Aboitiz Power and Aboitiz Equity Ventures went up by 8 and 5 percent, respectively, during Friday's trading from Thursday's close. The PSEi rose 61.93 points to close at 4,132.04, according to the PSE's online market information as of 12:10 p.m. More than 2.538 billion shares worth P5.61 billion changed hands. Advancers outpaced decliners 86 to 62, while 29 issues remained unchanged. Yeung said the market "experienced a strong rebound [on Friday]" after it fell sharply earlier this week. The PSEi shed 89.94 and 80.21 points last Monday and Tuesday, respectively, as investors feared that inflation may rise in the near term to the market's detriment. Meanwhile, investment analyst Freya Natividad of 2TradeAsia.com said that the market was also boosted by the mining and oil sector. "Many foreign investors are keen on the mining industry of the Philippines. They are bullish on the growth prospects of the domestic mining sector," she said. Natividad added that foreign and local investors have "full of optimism" that the corporate earnings results of listed companies would be "better than expected." — JE/OMG, GMANews.TV