Philippine bourse closes higher on China news

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market ended its two-week slide today, tracking the movement of the Asian equities.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index rose by 0.56 percent or 43.35 points to 7,773.92, while the broader all-share index gained 0.58 percent or 26.18 points to 4,524.79.

Trading volume reached one billion shares worth P8.24 billion ($186.91 million) with 98 stocks advancing, 67 declining, and 56 advancing.

Of the six counters, only the services sector bucked the trend.

"Asian markets were trading higher as optimism flowed following the People's Bank of China's decision to cut both benchmark lending and deposit rates by 25 basis points last Saturday, the second time in 14 weeks," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment.

Calaycay said technical analysts are advising investors to maintain an investment or trading position until the "weight of the evidence" indicates a shift in crowd psychology has occurred.

At the end of the day, he said uncertainty will always be the hallmark of markets.

He, however, warned that the problems that Greece faces is not something investors can ignore. Also casting a cloud over the market is the U.S. Federal Reserve's timing of a rate increase in the world's largest economy.

Stocks in the 30-company index closed mixed. Investors picked up shares of holding firm Ayala Corp. and property firm Megaworld Corp. but sold down heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.