Philippine stocks rally on positive inflation report

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market tpday is back on the 7,700 level following the rally of the US equities.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index rose by 53.94 points, or 0.7 percent, to 7,728.18, while the broader all-share index gained by 25.75 points, or 0.58 percent, to 4,496.74.

Trading volume reached 1.90 billion shares worth P10.41 billion ($236.12 million) with 105 stocks advancing, 72 declining, and 43 were unchanged.

"Except for a drop in the KOSPI, Taiwan and Hang Seng, Asia and Oceania bourses were a cacophony of mild cheers following a 211- point surge in the Dow Jones industrial average index overnight," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment.

The local barometer made its fifth break of the 7,700-line as investors digested a positive inflation report that came out Thursday. Morning trades booked gains to 35.37 points, just off the intra-day peak of 40.55 on a slightly less value turnover.

The local central bank report showed domestic consumption prices rose 2.4 percent in January, the slowest pace since the 2.1 registered in August 2013.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas however is monitoring closely the prices of oil as this might provide near-term risks.

So far, the index is starting the month of February positively with a weekly gain of 0.49 percent and closing twice above the 7, 700 mark.

Calaycay said with the earnings season unfolding, investors may keep the bag zipped and selectively pick the bulls.

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