Phl bourse ends 2-day losing streak

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The stock market ended its two-day losing streak today as bargain hunters flock the local equities even if neighboring countries ended the session in the negative.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index added 0.78 percent or 53.19 points to 6,870.90, while the broader all-share index gained 0.63 percent or 25.89 points to 4,111.97.

Trading volume reached 1.12 billion shares worth P8.17 billion ($186.65 million) with 98 stocks advancing, 69 declining, and 43 were unchanged.

"East Asian markets are mostly in the red as concerns over the Chinese economy, which has not gone away, moved front and center in the absence of other developments to focus on," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment.

Likewise, early futures indexes in both Europe and the United States imply a soft but positive open later in the afternoon.

But while the local index managed to close the session positively, Calaycay said activity was just slightly off the average pace.

"Price gainers are now being paced by second- and even third- tier counters, evidencing a shifting of funds towards these issues, " he noted.

Calaycay said investors are beginning to question valuations in light of poor first quarter earnings and the still depressed returns on alternative fixed-income securities.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly up. These include Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., and Alliance Global Group, Inc.