Philippines share prices closed 0.30 percent higher on Thursday, thanks to the overnight rally on Wall Street and favourable earnings reports by key local blue chips, dealers said. However, after a quick rise in early trading, profit-taking set in, reflecting continuing caution as worries about lending problems in the US linger, the dealers said.
The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index rose 9.29 points to 3,385.20 near the day's low of 3,382.60. The all-share index rose 18.55 points to close at 2,181.58 points. There were 99 gainers and 41 losers, while 32 stocks were unchanged.
Turnover totalled 4.7 billion shares worth 5.6 billion pesos (124.2 million dollars). The local currency traded at 45.075 to the dollar. "Investors are obviously still cautious, opting for quick gains while keeping an eye on any negative news from US," said Ron Rodrigo of Unicapital Securities.
Port management firm ICTSI advanced 1.50 pesos to 30.50, after the company reported Wednesday that its expanding overseas operations had boosted its first-half earnings by 23 percent from a year before. SM Investments Corp rose 15 pesos to 390, after the conglomerate said it had recently raised 4.5 billion pesos by issuing redeemable preferred shares, exceeding the targeted amount of 3.0 billion. Index leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) bucked the trend in the broader market, shedding 30 pesos to 2,620. San Miguel Corp's A-shares rose one to 68 and its B-shares advanced 50 centavos to 71 pesos ahead of announcing second-quarter results.
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