Index continues climb on select blue chip buying

MANILA, Philippines - Selective buying on index heavyweights propelled the bellwether index to its sixth straight day in positive territory.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 0.18 percent or 11.65 points to 6,454.86, reversing early losses that brought the main index down to the intraday low of 6,409.40. The morning trades were dragged by the retreat in Wall Street.

“Early losses were reversed as investors bought selective blue chips as the market ended in green territory,” said BPI Securities director Richard Anthony Liboro.

Liboro said the World Bank’s upgrade on the Philippine economic prospects likely continued to boost investor sentiment.

Given the uptick, the local bourse again bucked the trend in Wall Street, which fell as investors grow more concerned about the upcoming deadline on the debt ceiling. The Dow Jones industrial average eased 0.9 percent or 136.34 points to 14,936.24 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index shed 0.85 percent or 14.38 points to 1,676.12.

In contrast, Asian stocks rebounded, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 adding 0.3 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.81 percent.

Locally, counters were mixed, with the gainers led by property firms that climbed 1.85 percent or 45.80 points to 2,521.73 while financial firms dropped 0.59 percent or 9.30 points to 1,579.50 to lead the losers.

The value of shares traded eased anew to P5.92 billion from P6.18 billion on Monday. Decliners outpaced advancers, 78 to 64, while 41 stocks did not change.