Philippine bourse bounce back on bargain hunting

The Philippine stock market bounced back on Tuesday which analyst attributed mostly to bargain hunters.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index jumped by 1.15 percent or 86.79 points to 7,627.96, while the broader all-share index rose by 1.09 percent or 46.94 points to 4,355.72.

Trading volume reached 2.92 billion shares worth 6.60 billion Philippine pesos (145.95 million U.S. dollars) with 99 stocks advancing, 75 declining, and 43 were unchanged.

"Investors may have realized there was little reason beyond an early profit-taking to pull prices lower. Or, there was a sufficient number of investors who decided that Monday's losses were enough to open buying windows from a price-point perspective, " analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment.

Calaycay said Tuesday's advance is a sign that the local equities is set to the test the 7,700 mark this week, considering that the external threats have greatly eased.

"We expect the test of the 7700 line in the balance of the week as investors take positions ahead of the Philippine President's final State of the Nation Address on Monday as well as anticipation of the release of second quarter corporate earnings some of which have already come out with positive undertones," he said.

Calaycay however warned that overseas equities seem to suggest a possible shaky start with the US futures flat at this time while Europe has started the day with thin gains.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly picked up. These include SM Prime Holdings, Inc., BDO Unibank, Inc., and Ayala Land, Inc.