Bourse closes higher on bargain hunting

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market closed at a new high today on bargain hunting.

The local barometer Philippine Stock Exchange index rose by 0. 44 percent or 34.76 points to 7,871.10, while the broader all- share climbed by 0.30 percent or 13.64 points to 4,546.20.

Trading volume reached 1.57 billion shares worth P9.51 billion ($212.41 million) with 94 stocks advancing, 79 declining, and 40 remaining unchanged.

"Philippine shares prices started off timidly, seemingly unable to push past the main resistance line, weighed down by performance of overseas markets - particularly the US and Europe - as investors react to the daily news cycle particularly focused on the relationship between economic data and the interest rate guessing game," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market.

Nevertheless, the bears continue to fail to dominate the market as bulls fought back and provided the balance that has characterized the market for the last three-to-four weeks.

By the end of the session, however, a sufficient number of buyers entered the picture to push to a new record - the 21st for the year - towards an attempt at the 7,900-mark.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly up. These were Ayala Corp., SM Investments Corp., and Ayala Land, Inc.