Philippines share prices rose sharply to close up 2.22 percent Tuesday on hopes of a cut in borrowing costs this week, dealers said. The country's biggest conglomerates led the pack with index leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) resuming its record-breaking run, they said.
The composite index added 79.27 points to 3,677.19, its highest closing level in 10 weeks. This was off the day's high of 3,705.81. The broader all-share index jumped 51.14 points to 2,295.31. Volume totalled 6.9 billion shares worth 6.6 billion pesos (147.3 million dollars). Gainers swamped decliners 90 to 36, while 51 stocks were steady.
The Philippine central bank will meet on Thursday to decide on interest rates, with some economists betting policymakers will slash key interest rates by 25 basis points given tame inflation and the Federal Reserve's aggressive half-point rate cut last month. "Hints that the third-quarter gross domestic product might surprise with better-than-expected numbers again are also keeping the buying momentum intact," said Francisco Liboro of PCCI Securities.
Ayala Corp, the country's third-largest company by market value, was up 30 pesos at 580. SM Investments Corp, the second biggest, rose 12.50 to 380. PLDT, the biggest company, advanced 35 to 2,940. It set a new all-time high.
Comments
Comments are closed.