Phl bourse closes higher today on positive developments overseas

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market opened the week positively following vigorous developments overseas.

The bellwether Philippine stock exchange index jumped by 2.76 percent or 169.47 points to 6,302.71, while the broader all-share index rose by 1.72 percent or 64.16 points to 3,802.43.

Trading volume reached 1.57 billion shares worth P10.07 billion ($230.96 million) with 93 stocks advancing, 48 declining, and 45 were unchanged.

Of the six counters, only the mining and oil sector bucked the trend.

Analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market concerns over the U.S. government ending its stimulus package following Lawrence Summers' withdrawal as the next U.S. Federal Reserve chairman.

"The roadblock to Janet Yellen's possible appointment as Fed Chair when Ben Bernanke steps down Jan.31 next year was cleared with Lawrence Summers withdrawal from consideration. Yellen is seen by the market as less hawkish, favoring a more gradual phase- out of quantitative easing (QE3) stimulus," Calaycay said.

This, he said, is one less uncertainty for the market although there are bets that Bernanke is unlikely to initiate a cut in the $85-billion monthly purchases as some sectors still think this may not be the legacy he would want to be remembered and may leave the decision to the next chairman.

The Fed begins a two-day meeting tomorrow, Tuesday eastern time.

Likewise, the Syrian problem took yet another positive turn after U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov came to terms on finding, securing and destroying the regime's cache of poison gas.

Part of the agreement requires President Bashar Assad to submit an inventory of his toxic weapons with inspectors coming in by November.

The geopolitical tensions in Syria has sent the local equities tumbling down below the 6,000 level in the past two weeks.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly up. These issues include SM Investments Corp., heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., and Megaworld Corp.