PHL shares buoyed by corporate earnings expectations

The Philippine Stock Exchange index surged Thursday as investors believe that the rosy economic fundamentals will set a room for even better corporate earnings. "Bulk of the earnings results will come out [in] April. And, as early as now, investors are projecting that most of them will reach their record net profits," said trader Emmanuel Soller of Equitiworld Securities Inc. The PSEi gained 54.34 points or 1.43 percent to close at 3,866.38, according to the PSE's online market information as of 12:10 p.m. Value turnover reached P3.714 billion, with more than 1.186 billion shares traded. There were 66 advancers, 66 decliners, and 39 issues unchanged during Thursday's trading session. Soller said investors found a way to trade positively due to news on strong economic fundamentals — particularly the money transfers of Filipino overseas to their relatives in the Philippines. Remittances grew 8.2 percent to reach a new record of $18.76 billion last year. They are expected to contributed significantly to this year's economic growth, Soller said. He also pointed out that the market is already "oversold, so kailangan nang umakyat yung main index." The market, Soller said, will continue to "surge in the next days, 'wag lang magkakaroon ng negative fundamentals." — JE/OMG, GMA News