Philippines share prices are expected to sustain a rally into the first trading week of 2010 amid renewed bullishness about the economy, dealers said on Friday. The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index gained 0.94 percent or 28.35 points over the week to close at 3,052.68 points on Tuesday, the last trading day of 2009.
There was no trading from Wednesday to Friday because of public holidays. Average daily volume for the week amounted to 986.5 million shares worth 2.759 billion pesos (59.72 million dollars).
"We could see (Tuesday's) strong performance carry over to the first trading sessions of 2010," said AB Capital Securities Inc in an advisory to clients. There are various indications are "giving bullish signs, which are indicating a possible test of the 3,100 level early next year," the advisory said. Central Bank governor Amando Tetangco has forecast that the Philippines will easily hit its growth target of 2.6 to 3.6 percent in 2010, citing increased remittances from millions of Filipinos working overseas and the government's continued spending on infrastructure.
"We have internal strength in the economy. We still have robust personal consumption that is being assisted by increased government expenditures," he was quoted as saying in the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper. Marita Limlingan of Regina Capital Development Corp said that in the past two years, the market has performed better in January than in December. "It is seasonal. People come back from vacation willing to buy," she said.