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By Chino S. Leyco, Reporter
Local share prices rallied on the first trading day of the year but
analysts said the market would remain murky for the rest of the
week.
At the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the
composite index closed 5.44 percent o 101.84 points higher to
1,974.69 on Monday, while the broader all-share index climbed 3.7
percent or 44.4 points to 1,241.39.
Gainers outpaced losers 78 to16 while the share
prices of 23 companies were unchanged. The total volume traded
reached 640.93 million shares valued at around P1.445 billion.
The local bourse was closed for 12 days,
starting December 25, as the country celebrated a long Christmas
holiday that lasted until the New Year.
Erwin Balita, SB Equities Inc. research manager,
said the sharp climb on Monday was not surprising, as “it is
usually happening in January, where people are hopeful for 2009.”
“People are hopeful after the disaster in
2008, they believe that this year will be better than last year,”
he added.
Despite the rally, Balita warned that it is
still early to say if the market can sustain this gains for the rest
of the week.
While the PSE was closed for almost two weeks,
there have been improvements in other Asian bourses and Wall Street
started the year on a positive note.
“The gains in Wall Street also have some
effects in the local market,” the analyst said.
Grace Cerdenia of 2Trade Asia said the market
managed to rally by 101.84 points on the back of Wall Street gains
and expectations that inflation is likely to be lower in December.
However, “it’s too early to tell whether we
can sustain this trend,” she said.
In a note to clients, Metropolitan Bank and
Trust Co. (Metrobank) said investors can expect some optimism, at
least in the short-term.
“With the Dow moving back to 9,000 levels on
the first US trading day last Friday, some hope for a good start in
2009 has also been restored for the local stock market,” Metrobank
said.
Leading the advancers were blue chip companies
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Corp., which climbed 5 percent to
P2,220 while Ayala Corp. jumped P15 or 7.177 percent to P224 and
affiliate Bank of the Philippine Islands gained P2.50 or 6.4935
percent to P41.
Geothermal power producer PNOC-Energy
Development Corp. also went up P0.28 or 14.7368 percent to P2.18.
Meanwhile, the peso was up during the first
trading day this year due to the remittance flow during the holiday
season.
At the Philippine Dealing System (PDS), the peso
closed P47.160 against a greenback on Monday from P47.520 on
December 24 last year.
It opened P47.30 and traded to a high of P47.470
and low of P47.140 with total turnover reaching $486.5 million.
“It’s just a spillover effect from
remittance flows during the long Holiday and positive stock
market,” Marcelo Ayes, RCBC senior vice president said.
He added that the peso is expected to trade from
P47 to P47.50 this week.
Remittances, however, are expected to grow below
10 percent this year due to the expected slower demand for Filipino
workers from major economies were hit by the financial crisis.
Because of this, remittance flow would not be
enough to prop the peso up by year-end, which is expected to reach
P48 against the dollar. Negative news on the upcoming elections in
2010 would also weaken the currency, Ayes said.
-- With Maricel E. Burgonio
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