May 15, 2007
Updated 13:56:47 (Mla time)
MANILA, Philippines -- Share prices closed stronger as investors cheered the generally peaceful conduct of midterm elections, lifting the main index to a fresh high in over a decade, dealers said.
The peso also rallied to a new six-year high of P46.95 to the US dollar, buoyed by remittances from Filipinos working overseas that piled up during the three-day weekend here.
The market was closed during Monday’s midterm polls.
The 30-company composite index jumped 44.12 points or 1.31 percent to settle at 3,408.73. It was the index's best finish since Feb. 4, 1997 when it ended at 3,398.89, edging closer to the all-time high of 3,447.60 set the day before.
But profit-taking curbed the gains of the key index which surged over two percent intraday to hit a high of 3.432.82. It touched a low of 3,364.61, the same level it closed last Friday.
The broader all-share index edged up 32.07 points or 1.50 percent to 2,173.65.
Gainers outnumbered losers 85 to 33, and 49 stocks were unchanged.
A total of 3.9 billion shares worth P5.7 billion changed hands.
Dealers said investors were relieved that election-related concerns have eased.
"The equities market was already moving up prior to the elections, and investors reacted favorably to the high turnout. There were isolated cases of violence, but in general, the polls demonstrated that democracy is working in the
Lawrence de Leon, analyst at Accord Capital Equities, said the "elections turned out to be uneventful for the right reasons and this was taken positively by the market."
But de Leon said caution may prevail in the coming sessions as more election results pour in.
"Some investors will take caution while the votes are still being counted. We hope that there will be no nasty surprises that will be pulled that can upset the market. We are within sight of breaking the all-time high."
Unofficial and partial tallies showed the opposition candidates gaining most of the 12 Senate seats up for grabs.
Property developer Megaworld Corp. was the day's most actively traded stock, rising P0.15 or 4.11 percent to P3.80 on hefty volume of 192.96 million shares.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the country's largest telecommunications firm, edged up P15 to P2,565 while rival Globe Telecom Inc. lost P10 to P1,340.
Food and beverage conglomerate San Miguel Corp.'s A-shares gained P5.50 or 7.8 percent to P76, while its B-shares jumped P6 or 7.41 percent to P87.
Other winners were Equitable PCI Bank Inc. which climbed P5 or 4.81 percent to P109, SM Investments Corp. which added P15 or 3.97 percent to P392.50, and conglomerate Ayala Corp., up P10 or 1.67 percent to P610.
http://services.inquirer.net/express/07/05/15/html_output/xmlhtml/20070515-66008-xml.html
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