Index gains, bucks global downtrend

MANILA, Philippines - Local share prices slightly recovered yesterday despite continuous investor apprehension, allowing the main index to buck the decline in Asian and global markets.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index added 0.5 percent or 31.94 points to end at 6,480.12, while the broader All Shares index inched up 0.24 percent or 9.57 points to 3,953.30.

“Investors are obviously moving tentatively as they try to balance the countervailing forces that have been sentiments to both extremes,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., an analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp.

“Share prices walked the tightrope swinging between gains and losses as the dollar gained against a basket of currencies and investors in Asia weighed in once more on the prospects of the US Fed pulling the stimulus rug,” he said. Major Asian equities sank as growth in China’s service sector hit its slowest pace in nine months while political tensions in Portugal worried the market.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.31 percent or 43.18 points to 14,055.56 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 2.48 percent or 511.34 points to 20,147.31.

Wall St. also posted losses despite stronger motor vehicle sales and factory data in US.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.28 percent or 42.55 points to 14,932.41 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index shed 0.05 percent or 0.88 point to 1,614.08.

In the local bourse, most sub-indices were in the green, led by the service sector that gained 0.57 percent or 10.85 points to 1,925.33. But mining and oil defied the trend, easing 0.58 percent or 79.46 points to 13,730.76.