Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Stocks rise marginally, led by Globe Telecom (2:20 p.m.)
MANILA -- Stocks rose marginally Wednesday, led by gains in blue-chip Globe Telecom, traders said.
Traders said the market's tepid mood was characteristic of trading activity ahead of the long Easter break, which will close financial markets April 13 and 14.
"The good thing is we're not dropping sharply," said Westlink Global Equities Chairman Rommel Macapagal. "It's possible the market is getting support from the strong peso."
The benchmark 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange Index, or PSEi, rose 3.70 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,197.90, adding to Tuesday's 0.2 percent advance.
Globe provided a strong boost, gaining 1.7 percent to P885 on bargain hunting.
The stock had shed 2.8 percent in the past seven sessions.
President and Chief Executive Gerardo Ablaza also said Tuesday during the company's annual group meeting that it is considering a shift to per-second billing for voice calls from the per-minute rate if a marketing promotion introduced in December continues to generate better revenue.
Even so, Ablaza said he expects the mobile phone industry to register single-digit revenue growth this year because of a slowdown in subscriber base growth.
Other active stocks included Philex Mining A, up 1.7 percent at P2.95, and Philex B, up 3.5 percent at P3 on improving gold prices. Another mining stock, Lepanto A, rose 8.7 percent to P0.25, while Lepanto B gained 15 percent to P6.40.
Profit-taking in Ayala Corp., which fell 1.4 percent to P352.50, and its unit Ayala Land, off 2.2 percent at P11.25, capped the market's upside.
Gainers led decliners 69 to 26, while 54 stocks were unchanged.
Macapagal said the market was neutral to March inflation data released shortly before trading opened, which showed consumer prices rising 7.6 percent on year, the same rate registered in February. (AP)
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