Philippine bourse closes higher on positive news abroad

The Philippine Stock Exchange closed higher on Wednesday as strings of positive news fueled interest in the local equities. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 0.66 percent or 39.04 points to 5,986.48, while the broader all-share index rose by 0.62 percent or 22.49 points to 3,667.59. Trading volume reached 615 million shares worth 5.52 billion pesos (123.46 million U.S. dollars) with 80 stocks declining, 78 advancing, and 36 were unchanged. The composite index initially flirted with losses at the opening but drew enough interest to push higher. Analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said Janet Yellen's Senate confirmation as the next U.S. Federal Reserves Chairperson, a narrow U.S. trade gap, a lower-than- targeted Eurozone inflation, and a drop in Germany's unemployed parlayed into advances in equities markets. "Market observers see Yellen's ascension as a positive, being an ally of Ben Bernake," Calaycay said. "Intuitively, local investors seem to be expecting the market to keep to a slow pace taking a sideways bias until the domestic picture clears with the release of economic data," Calaycay said. This resulted in investors selectively picking the issues. Among those rallied were heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Ayala Land, Inc., and Ayala Corp.