Blue Chips Lift Stocks
May 15, 2011
The PSE Index of 41 selected issues gained 28.67 to 3249.38 amid relatively thin volumes. They added that the signing early Monday of a peace pact with former Muslim separatists also contributed to the investor confidence in the market. The peace agreement signals the end of hostilities between the Philippine government and Muslim separatists. Among those which enjoyed strong demand were the Class B shares of blue-chip real estate developer Ayala Land, which gained 1 peso to 34.50 pesos, with 75.7 million pesos worth of shares changing hands. Analysts said foreign investors were pleasantly surprised by the government's announcement over the weekend of a first half gross national product growth rate of 7.1%, well beyond the market's expectation ranging from 6.4% to 6.7%. They said the market's upbeat mood even managed to weather the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 31.44-point drop Friday, and the U.S. market Labor Day holiday. Investors are now looking forward to the release of the August inflation rate Thursday to provide a further boost to the market, traders said. Analysts expect the rate will be a considerable improvement over July's 8.9%.
