Philippines shares closed 1.05 percent higher on Monday, lifted by an upturn on Wall Street, dealers said. The composite index rose 23.57 points to 2,265.55 while the all-shares index gained 0.92 percent to 1,456.38. There were 88 gainers against 25 losers and 53 that were unchanged.
Turnover amounted to 3.545 billion shares worth 3.36 billion pesos (71.30 million dollars). The local currency traded at 47.06 to the dollar compared with 47.25 at the close of trading last week. "We're getting more inquiries from foreign investors, the most we've seen since 2007," Erwin Balita of SB Equities told Dow Jones Newswires.
However Joseph Roxas of Eagle Equities Inc warned that "the market has been up for quite a few days, its ripe for a correction." Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co gained 0.46 percent to 2,170 pesos while its main rival Globe Telecom rose 1.84 percent to 830 pesos. Ayala Corp rose 3.75 percent to 249 pesos but real estate giant Megaworld Corp was unchanged at 95 centavos.