Index continues climb on selective buying

MANILA, Philippines - Local stocks climbed for the fifth straight day on the back of selective buying.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index rose 0.23 percent or 13.64 points to 6,019.24, its highest since 6,030.95 on Dec. 5. The broader all shares index inched up 0.06 percent or 2.19 points to 3,662.36.

“I think selective buying lifted the main index because there were no market moving news from US that was closed,” said Abbygayle Estrella, an analyst at brokerage firm AB Capital Securities Inc.

Estrella said for the region, the Chinese market after liquidity concerns were adressed, with the People’s Bank of China announcing a surprise injection of funds to arrest the spike in interest rates. Japan’s Nikkei added 0.99 percent or 154.28 points to 15,795.96.

Financial markets in the US were closed in celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

At home, most counters were in the positive territory, led by mining and oil that again surged 2.75 percent or 366.61 points to 13,694.79. But holding firms retreated 0.51 percent or 27.94 points to 5,418.86.

Gainers slightly outpaced losers, 85 to 72, while 39 stocks did not change. Investor participation remained thin at P4.72 billion from P4.31 billion on Monday.

Estrella said the market is vulnerable to pullbacks given the weak turnover.

Despite the run-up, most active shares were in the red, paced by top-traded Ayala Land Inc. (-0.19 percent) and LT Group Inc. (-0.93 percent). Third most-traded and index heavyweight PLDT rallied 2.52 percent while BDO Unibank Inc. jumped 2.21 percent.