Bourse extends rally on investors' optimism

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market extended its rally today as optimism spread among investors.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index rose by 1.06 percent, or 63.78 points, to 6,106.03, while the broader all-share index added 0.90 percent, or 33.01 points, to 3,710.31.

Trading volume reached 3.89 billion shares worth P6.83 billion ($152.06 million) with 100 stocks advancing, 48 declining, and 50 were unchanged.

All six counters were up.

"The composite index is coming off two successive weeks of losses and expectations are thick that the onset of the earnings season should provide some reprieve from the prevailing headwinds, " analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment.

Calaycay said the rise in US stocks lifted the mood of investors especially after the Dow Jones industrial average index posted a 165-point gain last Friday.

He noted, however, that investors seem to remain "on the edge" as to the fullness of the recent rally in equity prices.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly up. These issues were the Bank of the Philippine Islands, Ayala Corp., and Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc.