Index edges up due to April budget surplus

Share prices closed 0.14 percent higher yesterday, supported by a sharp rise in the budget surplus for April which bolstered confidence in the country’s fiscal position, dealers said.

Market reaction, however, was relatively muted because investors have already factored in the positive data and remained wary after recent heavy losses in the region, they said.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index gained 3.38, or 0.1 percent, to close at 2,463.57 at noon. In the broader market, gainers beat losers 53 to 48.

Analysts said the market reacted positively to the latest budget figures released during trading, helping propel the main index to its intraday high before profit taking took away some of its gains.

The government had a budget surplus of P17.6 billion ($337 million) in April, National Treasurer Omar Cruz said before the start of trading. The four-month deficit was P50 billion, P10 billion less than a year before. The government plans to narrow its annual deficit to P125 billion.

The government produced a surplus by capping spending even as tax collections fell short of target, Cruz said.

"It looks like the government is committed," said Oliver Plana, an analyst at Asiasec Equities Inc. in Manila. The surplus "supports growing confidence in markets, not just equities."

"Psychologically, the positive fiscal numbers have been... in the market’s performance," said Harry Liu of Summit Securities.

San Miguel saw its A and B shares unchanged at P64 and P82.

Ayala Land, the country’s largest developer, rose 50 centavos, or 3.5 percent, to P14.75. Parent Ayala Corp. advanced P12.50, or 2.4 percent, to P432.50.

Separately, Manila Water Co., another Ayala Corp. unit, gained 10 centavos, or 1.4 percent, to P7.50. Manila Water got a water supply contract in the southern city of Cebu, the company said in a statement. It’s the company’s first project outside Manila.

Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. climbed six centavos, or 4.6 percent, to P1.36. The mobile phone unit of JG Summit Holdings Inc. yesterday said it had a first-quarter profit of P43.2 million, from a P451.3-million loss a year before.

In the overall market, trading totaled P1.64 billion, matching the average over the last six months.

Pilipino Telephone rose 5.3 percent to P4 after the mobile phone company’s president Napoleon Nazareno forecast a stable core net profit of P1.9 billion ($36.5 million; euro28.5 million) a quarter for the rest of the year, the same level it posted in the first quarter. – AP