Share prices gain anew as investors pick up bargains

Local stocks soared for a second session yesterday as investors picked up bargain issues, propelled by overnight gains on Wall St. and the bullish business sentiment on the domestic front, traders said.

The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 82.98 points or 2.01 percent to 4,203.60, more than offsetting Wednesday’s loss that put the index to near two-month low. The main index ended three percent higher week-on-week.

Over 1.44 billion shares worth P6.70 billion were traded, with advancers swamping decliners 98 to 32, while 40 issues remained unchanged.

In an online report, Wealth Securities said the market uptick was largely influenced by gains on US market overnight, cheered by reports that the debt-troubled Irish government is close to accepting a bailout loan.

It added that Wall St. also went wild over General Motors‘ monster initial public offeering (IPO), which raised as much as $20 billion - the largest in US history.

Also, investors were heartened by a recent survey by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas which showed that business sentiment in the fourth quarter was more buoyant, with the benchmark confidence index hitting its highest reading since the survey started in 2001.

Analysts said the market also saw upbeat prospects for the Aquino administration’s bolstered plan to build more roads and infrastructure in the country.

“The government’s public-private partnership (PPP) scheme boosted investor confidence, putting the market on its uptrend,” said Astro del Castillo, managing director of investment firm First Grade Holdings.

Some P740 billion worth of infrastructure projects have been lined up under the PPP program.

In other Asian markets, stocks were mixed as speculation arose that China may be preparing to hike interest rates to combat inflation. – with AP