Philippines shares closed 1.26 percent higher on Wednesday due to a drop in oil prices and a rebound in the US stock market, dealers said. The composite index rose 30.98 points to 2,481.53 points. The all-share index rose 1.06 percent to 1,565.25 points. Advancers outnumbered decliners 73 to 39, with 37 counters unchanged.
Turnover amounted to 1.918 billion pesos (41.98 million dollars) from 2.91 billion pesos on the previous day. The local currency traded at 45.688 to the US dollar. "There is a reversal already but will it be sustained? That is very hard to say," said Nestor Aguila of DA Market Securities.
"People are speculating that oil can drop 10 dollars in just one day," he said, adding that "the suppliers are already starting to feel the demand for oil slowing down." He forecast that "for the week, we will have a rally."
"A lot of money can be made but the fundamentals still have a downward bias," he said, citing domestic inflationary concerns. Index leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) rose 1.85 percent to 2,470 pesos while leading conglomerate Ayala Corp rose 2.7 percent to 282.50 pesos.
Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co rose 2.98 percent to 34.50 pesos while Bank of the Philippine Islands rose 1.12 percent to 45 pesos. San Miguel Corp saw its A shares remain unchanged at 40.50 pesos while its B shares gained 2.5 percent to 41 pesos.