Shares soar 2.13 percent to record close on Wall Street

MANILA (AFP) - Philippine share prices soared 2.13 percent on Monday, with the key index hitting a record close on the back of Wall Street's gains last Friday and surging Asian markets, dealers said.

Foreign funds continued to pour into the local market as fund managers move away from China amid concerns authorities may introduce more measures to cool the country's overheated stock market, they said.

The composite index finished up 75.59 points at 3,622.94, surpassing the previous record close of 3,547.35 set on Friday. It touched a new trading high of 3,629.82.

The broader all-share index jumped 36.82 points or 1.62 percent to 2,303.39.

There were 68 advancers and 49 decliners, while 50 stocks were unchanged. A total of 3.72 billion shares worth 6.49 billion pesos (144.2 million dollars) changed hands.

"The buying momentum was sustained, with many blue chips posting strong gains Monday. Fund managers could be shifting their focus away from China, where trading rules have been tightened, to other Asian markets," said Lawrence de Leon at Accord Capital Equities.

He said it was difficult to determine at which level the current bull run will end given the hefty trading volumes.

"The bullish sentiment remains intact, but there could be some resistance at the 3,600 level," said Ron Rodrigo at Unicapital Securities.

He said a technical pull back was imminent even as investors remained upbeat about the domestic economy which expanded by a better than expected 6.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

Top-traded Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co jumped 55 pesos to 2,630 while Ayala Land Inc was up 75 centavos at 17.50 pesos.

Food and beverage firm San Miguel Corp's A-shares rose 50 centavos to 67 pesos, while its B-shares fell 50 centavos to 76.50 pesos.