Philippines share prices closed 1.3 percent higher on Friday as investors shrugged off worries over soaring oil prices, dealers said. They said index heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) rebounded after a seven-day losing streak while media group ABS-CBN Broadcasting outperformed after upgrading its full-year earnings guidance.
The composite index finished up 48.63 points to 3,819.75, off the day's high of 3,836.18. The broader all-share index gained 16.60 points to 2,388.18. Gainers just beat losers 57 to 53, while 59 stocks were unchanged.
A total of 2.9 billion shares worth 5.4 billion pesos (122 million dollars) changed hands. The local currency was trading at 44.13 to the dollar. Dealers said select mining stocks also advanced on higher gold prices as investors sought safe havens, such as commodities, amid inflationary concerns due to a weakening dollar and surging oil prices.
"Investors were aggressively positioning themselves ahead of corporate earnings," said Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Holdings. "They still had reservations, with concerns about high oil prices but some already factored it in and set this aside after PLDT and ABS-CBN surged."
PLDT, the country's biggest company by market value, is scheduled to release its third-quarter results next month. PLDT set the pace among the gainers, adding 85 pesos to 3,110. ABS-CBN edged up 2.50 to 33.
The company reported Thursday that its net profit in the first nine months doubled from a year earlier to 1.1 billion pesos, surpassing its full-year target of one billion pesos. The results reflected gains in advertisements and its subscription-based business.
ABS-CBN is now projecting net profit to rise to as much as 1.4 billion pesos for the whole year, or almost double what it earned in 2006. Megaworld Corp, the country's second biggest homebuilder, added 25 centavos to 4.50 pesos.
Ayala Land Inc rose 25 to 17. Philex Mining, the country's biggest miner, advanced 10 centavos to 9.50 pesos. Food and beverage conglomerate San Miguel Corp's A shares were steady at 60, while its B shares were unchanged at 61.50.