Shares jump 22 pts on bargain hunting, stable interest rates

Share prices closed higher yesterday on bargain-hunting in blue chips, supported by expectations of stable domestic interest rates amid a firmer peso and benign inflation for March, dealers said.

The 30-company composite index rose 22.19 points, or 1.31 percent, at 1,713.24 on a volume of 3.2 billion shares worth P1.1 billion. In the broader market, the All Shares index was up 8.18 points at 636.23.

Advancers led decliners 62 to 31, with 45 stocks unchanged.

The commercial-industrial index rose 21.71 points to 2,492.23, while property stocks gained 10.82 points to 529.64.

Banking and financial services added 11.41 points to 693.37, while mining stocks rose 10.90 points to 1,874.67. Oil stocks were unchanged at 3.02.

Abacus Securities Corp. senior analyst Ramon Borja said the stable interest rate outlook after the release of the March CPI encouraged buying.

"The benign inflation figure does not give the central bank any excuse to jack up interest rates in the near term," Borja said.

The broad market was also helped by gains in technology-related stocks on the back of the rebound in NASDAQ overnight.

PCCI Securities Brokers Corp. research chief Gonzalo Bongolan said the recovery of the peso further boosted optimism that domestic interest rates will remain stable.

"It's back to basics for investors as they focus anew on the economy's fundamentals," Bongolan said.

While political concerns remain, many investors have opted to value issues based on fundamentals, including corporate earnings, he said.

An analyst with a domestic securities firm said the participation of local institutional players is one factor behind the market's strong performance today.

"Congress has pledged to pass vital economic reform bills and the government is really bent on enticing foreign investors to come. The government financial institutions probably think this is the best time to enter the market," the analyst said.

However, he said foreign fund participation was lacking as shown by the weak turnover.

Astro del Castillo of AA Securities Inc. said there was bargain-hunting in selected stocks, but it is uncertain if today's rally is sustainable.

"If you look at the volume it's less than P1 billion net of cross sales.

But if key economic reforms are passed before or after Easter, then it will really be a boost for the market," he said.

PLDT was up P20 at P940 on 118,540 shares.

Piltel was down four centavos on volume of 205,000 shares after the company disclosed that it has not yet finalized a debt restructuring agreement with creditors. --