Philippine shares close higher on bargain-hunting; Meralco gains

Philippine shares close higher on bargain-hunting; Meralco gains - UPDATE

	Published : Thu, 26 Jul 2007 06:13 By : Agencies Print this Story

MANILA (Thomson Financial) - Philippine share prices closed higher in volatile trade Thursday as bargain-hunters picked up select blue chips including market leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) following a rebound on Wall Street Wednesday.

Manila Electric Co (Meralco) also rose after reporting better earnings for the second quarter, but investors sold down property developer Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc, which resumed trading following its 24 billion-peso stock offer.

The composite index finished up 14.17 points or 0.4 percent at 3,659.68, off the day's high of 3,666.29.

The broader all-share index rose 3.90 points or 0.2 percent to 2,372.42.

Of the 165 stocks that were traded, 59 retreated and 51 advanced, while 55 stocks were unchanged.

A total of 5.5 billion shares worth 7.1 billion pesos changed hands.

'We had a technical bounce today influenced by the rebound in the US market. But investor confidence remains shaky following the big drop on Wall Street earlier this week,' said Rommel Macapagal, chairman of Westlink Global Equities.

'Today's modest gains (following a 1.6 percent drop on Wednesday) indicate there is still indecisiveness in the market.'

Worries about home lending in the US and Manila's fiscal prospects following weak tax collections in the first half of the year weighed on investor sentiment, analysts said.

PLDT, the nation's biggest company by market value, rose 15 pesos or 0.6 percent to 2,660, snapping a five-day retreat.

Meralco's A shares, which are limited to Filipinos, rose two pesos or 2.0 percent to 102. Its B shares, which have no ownership restriction, jumped three pesos or 2.9 percent to 105. The nation's largest power distributor announced during trading hours that its net profit for the second quarter jumped 62 percent year-on-year to 1.81 billion pesos, driven by double-digit growth in sales.

Petron Corp advanced 20 centavos or 3.2 percent to 6.40 after the oil refiner reported that its second-quarter net profit rose four percent from a year earlier to 1.75 billion pesos, aided by higher sales.

Vista Land, the most actively traded stock, bucked the trend as it fell 20 centavos or 2.8 percent to 6.90 pesos.

Analysts said those who bought Vista Land shares at its offer price of 6.85 pesos per share immediately cashed in their modest gains.

(1 US dollar = 45.14 pesos)

enrico.delacruz@thomson.com

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Philippine shares close higher on bargain-hunting; Meralco gains - UPDATE