Stocks bounce back to 6,400 mark

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The stock market made another attempt to surpass the 6,400 level today as investors weight developments overseas.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 1.09 percent or 69.09 points to 6,428.71, while the broader all-share index was up by 1.06 percent or 40.82 points to 3,876.02.

Trading volume reached 1.22 billion shares worth P9.98 billion ($222.94 million) with 95 stocks advancing, 59 declining, and 50 were unchanged.

All six counters were up.

Analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said last week was a rough one for the local equities as investors were bombarded with developments locally and overseas.

Among those he cited were mixed data out of the United Stattes, the crisis in Ukraine (Crimea) , more earnings numbers from domestic corporates and the local central bank's decision on policy rates dominated the headlines, at least insofar as investors' were concerned.

Calaycay, however, said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' decision to keep rates at record low might have motivated some investors to keep their interest in the local equities.

"Meanwhile, the latest BSP survey showed consumer confidence still rising. And just before the week ended, the Monetary Board decided to leave policy rates unchanged even as it hiked banks' reserve requirements by 100 basis points to 19 percent," the analyst said.

Calaycay said the recent round of economic data from the local front should allow for a sustained push as trades for the month of March and the fiscal first quarter come to a close.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly up. These include Ayala Corp., heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., and Ayala Land, Inc.