Philippines share prices closed 0.67 percent higher Friday as foreign investors sought out high yielding stocks or those likely to report robust earnings for the three months to September, dealers said. They said trading volume was thin however ahead of the weekend.
The Philippines Stock Exchange composite index added 12.93 points to 1,952.28 after trading between 1,939.35 and 1,956.06. Turnovers were 376.06 million shares worth 802.49 million pesos (14.36 million dollars).
The all-shares index advanced 6.29 points to 1,184.16. Gainers outnumbered losers 38 to 25, while 50 stocks were unchanged.
The peso traded at 55.88 to the dollar as the stock market closed. "Today was quite interesting as we suddenly saw a wave of strong foreign buying," said Nestor Aguila DA Market Securities.
Stocks of companies that declared dividends were in favour as well as blue chips like Ayala Land which saw brisk foreign buying. "The trend now is that investors have been giving more weight on a company's dividend policy. They would want to know how much they would be rewarded, rather than focusing simply on earnings estimates," Aguila added.
Friday's focus shifted to corporate leads from domestic politics, dealers said, adding there was also bargain-hunting on counters deemed cheap. Rommel Macapagal of Westlink Global Equities said the index may test the next resistance level at 1,970 points in coming sessions after it breached 1,950.
Ayala Land added 20 centavos to 8.60 pesos. San Miguel's B shares, available to all investors, advanced three pesos to 91.50, while San Miguel A, exclusive to Filipino buyers, edged up 50 centavos to 65.50 pesos.
The brewer had announced a cash divided after the market closed Thursday. Philippine Long Distance Telephone re-treated five pesos to 1,660.
SM Investments advanced a peso to 219, while unit SM Prime Holdings was down 10 centavos to 7.30 pesos. Ayala Corp gained 2.50 pesos to 292.50, while unit Manila Water added 10 centavos to 6.40 pesos.