Philippine bourse extends rally on Q3 economic data

Follow-through buying after the government reported a 7-percent growth in the economy in the third quarter allowed the Philippine stock market to extend its rally on Friday. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 0.63 percent, or 38.86 points, to 6,208.82, while the broader all-share index rose by 0.56 percent, or 21.15 points, to 3,776.73. Trading volume reached 2.08 billion shares with 10.18 billion pesos (232.89 million U.S. dollars) with 77 stocks advancing, 77 declining, and 42 were unchanged. Of the six counters, only the industrial and the mining and oil sectors bucked the trend. Analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said the 7-percent growth of the Philippine economy has temporarily lifted the "veil of concern" over the economy following a destructive typhoon earlier this month. This, he said, makes it possible for the government to hit its full-year gross domestic product output target of 6 percent to 7 percent. "While the pace of growth may be expected to taper in the next quarter or two, the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the damaged areas is seen to spur the numbers higher over the long term," he said. Still, the analyst did not downplay the recent sell-off that rocked the local equities. He noted that this has shattered confidence in the local equities. For the week, the local equities managed to retrieve 2.03 percent of what it lost from the bloody sell-off that nearly pulled down the equities below the 6,000-mark. Stocks in the 30-company index closed mixed. Among those picked up were SM Prime Holdings, Inc., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., and the Bank of the Philippine Islands.