Saturday, October 01, 2011

Stocks rally on German vote

Posted on September 30, 2011 07:19:41 PM

OPTIMISM AFTER Germany approved an increase in the euro zone’s bailout fund and window dressing on blue-chip issues pushed stocks higher for the third session this week on Friday.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rallied by 3.15% or 122.02 points to 3,999.65, 0.35 point shy of piercing the 4,000-psychological barrier, while the broader all-share index rose by 2.56% or 71.45 points to 2,859.23.

"Even as a number of major markets in the region slipped, local share prices tracked US stocks’ advance as optimism resurfaced," analyst Justino B. Calaycay, Jr. of brokerage firm Accord Capital Equities, Corp. in a market report yesterday.

"The local bourse fully recovered the losses it incurred earlier this week as investors traded on hopes that Europe will be able to stave off a debt crisis," noted brokerage firm RCBC Securities, Inc. in a separate market report yesterday.

The good news from Europe seemed to have soothed the nerves of skittish investors, said analyst Astro C. del Castillo, managing director of brokerage firm First Grade Holdings, Inc., in a telephone interview yesterday.

Elizabeth S. Abadillo of Angping & Associates Securities, Inc. attributed yesterdays’ rise to window dressing by some investors as the third quarter closed.

Window dressing is a strategy among mutual fund and portfolio managers to improve the appearance of their portfolios by selling lagging stocks and buying outperforming stocks.

Miners lifted the bourse on Friday. Pangilinan-led Philex Mining Corp. rose by 7.82% or P1.60 to P22.05, while Lepanto Consolidated Mining "A" and "B" added 5.93% or seven centavos to P1.25 and 5.64% or seven centavos to P1.31, respectively.

Index heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. also climbed by 1.76% or P38 to P2,198 apiece.

US markets closed higher overnight after a volatile intraday trading, after receiving news that Germany had approved an expanded euro zone bailout fund, which it would principally finance, as US jobless claims dipped to 391,000, the lowest recorded since April, according to US Labor department data.

Blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average rose by 1.3% or 143.08 points to 11,153.98, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 0.8% or 9.34 points to 1,160.40.

Tech-rich Nasdaq composite index, however, bucked the uptrend and shed 0.4% or 10.82 points to 2,480.76.

At home, advancers trumped decliners 118 to 32, while 34 stocks were unchanged.

Turnover amounted to P4.911 million from P5.178 billion on Wednesday.

The selling streak among foreigners ended on Friday, as they posted a net foreign buying of P486 million.

All subindices closed in the green, led by mining and oil that surged by 5.18% or 1,011.59 points to 20,525.99, followed by property that jumped by 3.30% or 44.64 points to 1,398.43.

It remains to be seen whether the PSEi will continue to gain next week. Analysts said it will continue to track markets abroad.

"We will still remain sensitive to the flow of foreign developments next week," Mr. del Castillo said.

As a result, the bourse may trade within a narrow band of 3,800 to 4,000 next week. -- Franz Jonathan G. de la Fuente
 
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=StockMarket&title=Stocks-rally-on-German-vote&id=39198 

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