PHL share prices surge amid positive local news

Philippine share prices rose on Tuesday but remained within a tight trading range. The bellwether 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index surged 58.70 points or 1.41 percent to 4,211.81 while the all shares climbed 9.48 points or 0.32 percent to 2,953.49. In the past few months, the main index has held the 4,200 support level. Losers, however, narrowly beat gainers, 67 to 63, while 41 stocks closed unchanged. Except for Industrial, which slipped 0.44 percent, all other five sectoral indices closed in the green, led by Services' 3.87-percent rise and Financials' 1.71-percent advance. Volume traded reached 1.35 billion shares valued at about P8.21 billion. Analysts said the local stock market is being driven by two factors- external woes and strong local developments. "...trading activity will be flat to lower as the sidewards movement of the PSEi may lead some investors to stay on the sidelines. The main index is seen to consolidate around 4,200 next week...with foreign woes persisting, the local stock market will find it hard to retest YTD (year to date) highs," said AB Capital in a market note posted online. The sluggish recovery of the US economy and credit woes continued to hobble global markets. On the other hand, positive indicators in the domestic economy had kept investors interested in the local bourse. Of the five most active stocks for the day, two moved sideways and two others posted gains. However, SM Investments Corp., the holding company of the SM group and the session's top traded, dropped P3 or 0.55 percent to P537. Telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. jumped P120 or 5.45 percent to P2,322. Union Bank of the Philippines was unmoved at P59.50. Aboitiz Equity Ventures, which holds the interests of the Aboitiz family, added P1 or 2.47 percent at P41.45. Metropolitan bank & Trust Co., one of the country's largest lenders in terms of assets, was flat at P69.50. -- CMA/OMG, GMA News