Euro debt deal boosts PHL shares, index up 1%

Shares on the Philippines Stock Exchange rose in thin trading Thursday, lifted by the euro zone deal to contain the two-year-old debt crisis. The debt-swap deal between Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and JG Summit Holdings Inc. over Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. also helped ease a bit the selling pressure, traders said. The main Philippine Stock Exchange index rose 42.74 points or 1 percent to close at 4,267.50. All sub-indices were up, according to the PSE online Market Information at 1 p.m. “It’s actually the news on the EU bailout package that was approved and flashed on CNN that influenced the market," said trader Jun Lim of Papa Securities Corp. "Euro zone leaders struck a deal with private banks and insurers on Thursday for them to accept a 50 percent loss on their Greek government bonds under a plan to lower Greece's debt burden and try to contain the two-year-old euro zone crisis," according to a Reuters report. “But the volume, in rally terms, is not what we would like it to have been," Lim noted. More than 3.309 billion shares valued at P3.638 billion were traded. Advancers led losers 89 to 41, and 39 issues were unchanged. The PLDT-JG Summit deal on Digitel confirmed what the market already knew. So, its impact is not that strong, but it helped carry the PSEi higher, said a trader for Intra-Invest Securities Inc. What the market needs is a convincing rally with volumes in the 5-billion to 6-billion range, Papa’s Lim said. — TJD, GMA News