Philippines share prices closed 0.72 percent higher on Friday, lifted by optimism that corporate earnings will remain strong as the economy sustains its growth over the year, dealers said.
This positive sentiment spilled into the currency market, with the Philippine peso jumping to its strongest level in nearly five years in early trading, they said. The composite index added 19.43 points to 2,702.37 after trading between 2,703.01 and 2,682.94. The broader all-share index rose 12.41 to 1,663.65.
Gainers led losers 64 to 40 with 60 unchanged. Turnover totalled 2.67 billion shares worth 3.72 billion pesos (74.78 million dollars). The Philippine peso traded at 49.799 to the dollar. "Investors are now looking beyond the third-quarter corporate results. I think full-year earnings are also being priced in this early," said Harry Liu of Summit Securities.
"We've been expecting a pullback given the strong run-up in the past few days, but the momentum has not fizzled out," he added. The government is confident the economy will expand between 5.5 percent and 6.1 percent this year, supported by brisk exports which grew 16.9 percent year-on-year to 30.958 billion dollars in the first eight months of 2006.
Property developer Megaworld Corp, the most actively traded stock, rose 10 centavos to 2.28 pesos. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) edged up 25 pesos to 2,310. Ayala Land Inc, which will also announce its quarterly results early next month, was up 50 centavos at 15.50 pesos. Food and beverage firm San Miguel Corp's A and B shares closed flat at 66.50 and 74.00 pesos, respectively.
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