Philippines shares up

Philippines share prices closed up 0.5 percent on Monday on selective buying of key issues, dealers said. The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index rose 14.05 points to close at 2,612.85, while the all-shares index rose 1.1 percent to 1,664.62. A total of 1.62 million shares worth 3.82 billion pesos (78.7 million dollars) changed hands.
Decliners however led advancers 59 to 45 while 47 issues were unchanged. The market opened in the red Monday, but heavy buying of Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) and its rival Globe Telecom lifted the index, dealers said. The two accounted for about 30 percent of the day's volume. "PLDT and Globe are playing catch up with the rest of the market... We've noticed recently an increase in foreign buying," April Lee-Tan of CitisecOnline.com told Dow Jones Newswires.