Market rebounds on bargain-hunting, Wall St gains

Share prices closed 0.4 percent higher yesterday as bargain-hunters sought out blue chips following heavy losses earlier this week, dealers said.

A modest rebound on Wall Street also helped lift the market.

The composite index rose 14.17 points to 3,659.68 after trading between 3,641.31 to 3,666.29 points. The broader all-share index added 3.90 points to 2,372.42.

Despite the headline index gain, declines led gains 59 to 51, with 55 stocks unchanged.

Volume was 7.1 billion shares worth P18.3 billion.

“We had a technical bounce influenced by the rebound in the US market but investor confidence remains shaky following the big drop on Wall Street earlier this week,” said Rommel Macapagal of Westlink Global Equities.

“Today’s modest gains (following a 1.6-percent drop on Wednesday) indicate there is still indecisiveness in the market,” he warned.

Worries about home lending in the United States and Manila’s fiscal prospects following weak tax collections in the first half of the year weighed on investor sentiment, dealers said.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), the  biggest company by market value, rose P15 to P2,660, snapping a five-day retreat.

Meralco’ A shares, which are limited to Filipinos, rose P2 to P102. Its B shares, which have no ownership restriction, jumped P3 to P105.

The country’s largest power distributor announced during trading hours that its net profit for the second quarter jumped 62 percent year-on-year to P1.81 billion.

Petron Corp. advanced 20 centavos to P6.40 after its results.

San Miguel Corp. A shares were flat at P74 while its B shares fell tP2 to P76.

“It appears that confidence is not yet back,” said Westlink Global Equities chairman Rommel Macapagal. “Right now, we’re just tracking the movement in US stocks.”

He said liquidity returned to the market after recent initial public offerings and investors were hoping to cash in on gains.

Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. ended at P6.90, up from its follow-on offer price of P6.85.

Manila Electric Co. B shares, available to local and foreign investors, surged 2.9 percent at P105 after the power distributor reported a 62-percent on-year rise in its second-quarter net profit to P1.81 billion ($40.2 million; euro29 million). — AFP, AP