Philippines shares soar

Philippines share prices closed 1.53 percent higher on Friday due to a technical rebound, dealers said. The composite index gained 44.27 points to 2,932.99 while the all-shares index added 1.32 percent to 1,848.03 points. A total of 1.03 billion shares worth 3.403 billion pesos (72.18 million dollars) changed hands with 71 gainers against 32 losers. Fifty-eight other issues ended unchanged.
The local currency traded at 47.143 to the dollar. "This is mainly a rebound effect, there are good blocks worth picking up," Jomar Lacson of Campos, Lanuza and Co told Dow Jones Newswires. Top-traded Philippine Long Distance Telephone gained 1.96 percent to 2,600 pesos while SM Investments Corp rose 4.24 percent to 307.50 pesos. Energy Development Corp added 2.56 percent to four pesos while SM Prime Holdings ended unchanged at 10 pesos.