Philippine bourse extends rally on U.S. equities performance

The Philippine stock market extended its rally on Thursday following the stellar performance of the U.S. equities.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index rose by 0.22 percent or 16.28 points to 7,357.28, while the broader all-share index went up by 0.40 percent or 17.19 points to 4,335.45.

Trading volume reached 1.36 billion shares worth 8.10 billion Philippine pesos (175.53 million U.S. dollars) with 126 stocks advancing, 77 declining, and 39 were unchanged.

Of the six counters, only the financials bucked the trend.

"The overnight performance of stocks in Wall Street lit up tickertapes in markets across the Asia and Oceania region, except for a couple of Southeast Asian bourses," analyst Justino Calaycay of A&A Securities, Inc. said in his daily stock market comment.

The Dow Jones industrial average index reached a five-month high on Wednesday, closing 187 points higher.

Calaycay said earnings played a role in uplifting sentiments in the U.S. overnight with JP Morgan beating first quarter earnings estimates.

"This is shaping up as the best week of the market since posting a 2.9 percent gain in the period ending March 18. With Friday's trade in the balance, the composite index posts a 1.5 percent advance off the flat close the previous week," he said.

Stocks in the 30-company index finished mixed. Among those sold down were heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and SM Prime Holdings, Inc. Investors however picked up shares of Ayala Land, Inc., SM Investments Corp., and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. Endit