Property sector pushes stock index to another record high in three days

PHILIPPINE share prices on Thursday spent most of the day in negative territory but still finished at a record level for the third straight session, buoyed by the gains in the property sector.

At the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the composite index inched up 2.25 points, or 0.05

percent to close at another record of 4,648.11, surpassing the previous high of 4,645.86 posted on Wednesday.

The broader all-shares index dropped 5.99 points, or 0.19 percent to 3,145.12. All sectors finished in the red except for the property sub-index, which rose by 0.52 percent. Decliners beat advancers, 87 to 75, while 43 stocks were unchanged. A total of 3.26 billion stocks worth P6.42 billion changed hands. Net foreign buying dropped to P1.42 billion.

Local stocks gained no more than 8.79 points in early trading before settling with a 4.33-point loss at the noon break.

“By the end of the afternoon session, however, enough buying activity surfaced to push the measure back into positive territory,” said Jun Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. “The PSE index was able to end on the green side on optimism over central bank’s policy meeting as well as likelihood of a favorable outcome on Germany and France’s meeting this month,” said Freya Natividad, investment analyst at 2TradeAsia.com.

Overnight, the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 13.02 points, or 0.10 percent to 12,449.45 ahead of key bond market tests for Europe that may suggest the direction of the eurozone crisis.

Sentiments heading into the weekend remain to be positive with Thursday’s momentum at the close possibly spilling over to Friday, analysts said. Immediate index range is between 4,600 and 4,670.

“Nevertheless, the thin trading band [of 25 points] suggests investors are not too aggressive either way. The market is filled with a balance of profit-takers and bargain hunters. This is a good sign for Philippine equities,” Calaycay said.

While expectations of benign inflation and consequently, a decline in domestic interest rates, continue to send local stocks to record levels, the escalating tension in Iran threatens to pose a challenge. Local pump prices have risen at least twice in the first two weeks with yet another hike looming in the pipeline.

“This makes the Monetary Board’s rate-setting meeting on January 19th all the more interesting, as it will provide investors an early peek as to how policy-makers officially perceive the economy’s chances this year,” Calaycay said.