Philippine shares rally to new high

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market rallied to a new high today even after the government reported an uptick on consumer prices last month.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index skyrocketed by 0. 54 percent or 42.29 points to 7,861.33, while the broader all- share index added 0.40 percent or 18.39 points to 4,656.99.

Trading volume reached 5.95 billion shares worth P9.26 billion ($210 million) with 94 stocks advancing, 85 declining, and 50 were unchanged.

Two of the six counters bucked the trend.

"Mixed reactions are seen with the latest uptick in consumer prices for February, although buyers seized on this window to reposition in select shares," online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said.

Philippines' inflation in February grew by 2.5 percent from 2.4 percent as a result of mixed price movements among the commodity groups.

Some investors, it said, also checked on large-caps that were beaten in the previous sessions.

Among those issues were BDO Unibank, Inc., the Bank of the Philippine Islands, and Ayala Corp.  

For the week, the index posted a 1.69 percent gain or more than a hundred points from last week.