MANILA, Philippines – The local bellwether index strengthened its grip in the 6,700 territory as investors, driven by positive leads, returned to the market in droves yesterday.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index rose 0.52 percent or 35.06 points to 6,742.97, marking its third straight session in the green. The broader all shares index added 0.44 percent or 17.84 points to end at 4,068.96.
“After several days of consolidation and profit taking, investors are back in the market given the string of good news,” Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Finance Inc., said in a phone interview.
Locally, some investors positioned ahead of the release of first quarter corporate results, Del Castillo said.
Overseas, the US Federal Reserve’s announcement of another $10-billion cut in its massive monthly purchases of treasuries and mortgage bonds to $45 billion shows a stronger US economy.
On Thursday, Wall Street slightly dipped ahead of the release of the jobs report. The Dow Jones industrial average eased 0.13 percent or 21.97 points to 16,558.87, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index shed 0.01 percent or 0.27 point to 1,883.68.
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Asian stocks were generally in the positive territory yesterday given optimism that the pace of US hiring picked up in April.
At home, all counters closed higher, led by mining and oil that rallied 2.27 percent or 356.19 points to 16,036.90 while the service sector gained 0.99 percent or 20.06 points to close at 2,054.08.
