Roundup: Philippine bourse manages to eke out a small gain

The Philippine stock market managed to eke out a small gain on Tuesday as investors digest China'a latest economic growth.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index added 0.09 percent or 5.99 points to 7,060.85, while the broader all-share index gained 0.11 percent or 4.33 points to 4,063.70.

Trading volume reached 1.36 billion shares worth 5.64 billion Philippine pesos (122.37 million U.S. dollars) with 103 stocks declining, 81 advancing, and 39 were unchanged.

Two of the six counters pulled up Tuesday's session. These were holding firms and the service sectors.

"There is obviously latent optimism in the market and everyone is just looking for an impetus that will validate this," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment.

The analyst noted a few economic data that investors could be holding on to. At home, for instance, third quarter corporate earnings, economic growth, and other economic indicators are being closely monitored.

Overseas, the lead will still continue to come from the US interest rates lift-off and the latest growth domestic product output of China.

The Chinese economy grew 6.9 percent in the third quarter, just a hair above the median estimate of 6.8 percent.

The local equities movement during the past two sessions, he said, suggests are investors are mostly undecided.

"We expect this to continue in the succeeding days, with earnings dictating how the market's wheel grinds on a daily basis," he said.

Stocks in the 30-company index closed mixed. Investors picked up shares of heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Jollibee Foods Corp., and SM Investments Corp. Endit