Philippines share prices closed 1.2 percent higher on Tuesday due to year-end window-dressing involving blue chip issues, dealers said. The composite index rose 21.25 points to 1,862.19 points, while the all-shares index rose 0.6 percent to 1,190.17 points. There were 44 gainers, 47 losers and 39 unchanged. Volume totalled 501.2 million shares worth 865 million pesos (18.4 million dollars).
The local currency traded at 47.529 to the dollar. The upturn was attributed to "last-minute window-dressing particularly on PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co)" said Jose Vistan of AB Capital Securities Inc. "If you look at the breadth of the market, it is bearish so I guess it is just PLDT carrying the market," he said.
"It is just window-dressing on big-cap, blue chip issues but the rest ofthe market is moving sideways or lower," Vistan said. Index-heavyweight PLDT gained 4.4 percent at 2,110 pesos while Ayala Corp rose 1.99 percent to 205 pesos. However, Globe Telecom fell 1.3 percent to 750 pesos while Pilipino Telephone Corp was unchanged at 6.90 pesos. San Miguel Corp saw its A shares remain unchanged at 40 pesos while its B shares were also unchanged at 41 pesos.