Index rises to highest level in 91/2 years on Wall St rally

Share prices rose 0.81 percent yesterday to their highest levels in nine and a half years, boosted by Wall Street’s gains overnight, dealers said.

There was renewed interest in market heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., (PLDT) which ended a seven-day losing streak as it tracked the gains in its New York-traded American Depositary Receipts.

The composite index added 23.02 points to 2,856.29, its best finish since June 20, 1997. It traded between 2,860.57 and 2,833.27.

The broader all-share index rose 13.28 points to 1,779.87.

Gainers beat losers 80 to 36 with 48 unchanged. Volume totalled 3.16 billion shares worth P5.14 billion.

"The positive sentiment on Wall Street spilled into Asian markets this morning," said Ron Rodrigo of Unicapital Securities Inc.

PLDT jumped P25 to P2,440 after its ADRs edged up 11 cents to settle at $48.61 on Thursday.

Rodrigo said some investors might have also welcomed the decision of PLDT’s controlling shareholder, Hong Kong-listed First Pacific Co. Ltd., to increase its stake in the Philippines’ largest telecommunications firm.

Top-traded PNOC Energy Development Corp. rose 15 centavos to P4.30, recovering from Thursday’s profit-taking that followed its stellar debut Wednesday.

Food and beverage firm San Miguel Corp.’s A-shares were unchanged at P66, but its B-shares fell 50 centavos to P71.

"First Pacific’s plan with the shares revived interest in the stock," said Oliver Plana, head of sales at Manila-based Asiasec Equities Inc. "There has been a sizeable accumulation of PLDT."

Ayala Land Inc. and the nation’s other property developers rose after the central bank kept interest rates low by maintaining staggered rates for overnight bank deposits.

First Pacific chairman Manuel Pangilinan said that aside from NTT DoCoMo, some of the additional shares the Hongkong-based company will buy from the government may also be sold to private equity funds.

Aboitiz Equity, which has investments in electricity, banking and transportation, jumped 30 centavos, or 4.6 percent, to P6.80, its highest close since May. The stock hasn’t closed higher than that level since Aboitiz Equity first sold shares in 1994.

SN Aboitiz Power Inc., a venture of Aboitiz Equity and SN Power of Norway, yesterday offered $530 million for a 360- megawatt Magat hydropower plant owned by the government. The purchase will more than triple Aboitiz Equity’s power generation capacity of 162 megawatts. – AFP