Bargain hunting lifts bourse

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market again managed to end the trading session in the black today, thanks to bargain hunting among local investors.  

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 0.79 percent or 45.41 points to 5,812.54, while the broader all-share index rose by 0.6 percent, or 21.29 points, to 3,564.05.

Trading volume reached 1.03 billion shares worth P5.48 billion ($124.2 million) with 80 stocks advancing, 69 declining, and 39 were unchanged.

Of the six counters, only the mining and oil sectors bucked the trend.

"What we experienced is a technical rebound following an oversold level of the market," said Greg Ilag, an analyst from AB Capital Securities, Inc.

The analyst said investors saw the successive drops of the local equities as a sign that it might be the proper time to re- enter the stock market.

Ilag said investors feel that export-oriented countries might benefit from the turnaround of US economy.

At present, he said local investors have adopted a wait and see attitude. Meanwhile, foreign investors have a mixed outlook.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly up. Among those favored were SM Investments Corp., Ayala Land, Inc., and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co.