PSE index hits 28th all-time high this year

MANILA, Philippines – The local stock market rebounded on Friday, November 23, reaching a new all-time high, as investors grabbed banking stocks.

The key Philippine Stock Exchange index closed at 5,552.34, up 38.97 points or 0.7% from Thursday’s close of 5,513.37. This surpassed the November 21 record close of 5,534.18.

This was the 28^th time this year that the index hit a new high.

“Upbeat expectations on both the listed company and macroeconomic fronts continue to infuse excitement in our investors. Local developments have been able to overshadow ongoing concerns abroad, and this certainly bodes well for the market as we look to end 2012 on a high note,” PSE Chief Operating Officer Roel Refran said in a statement.

The broader all-share index went up 0.51% to 3,609.260.

Among sectoral indices that ended in positive territory, the financials went up the most, at 1.31%. The mining and oil as well as services indices ended in the red.

The most actively traded stock was gaming firm Philweb Corp., which soared 7.7% to P14 per share.

Philippine National Bank (PNB), which is in talks with Ayala-owned Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) for a merger deal, was the top two traded stock.

PNB jumped 3.37% to P84.3 per share, while BPI rose 3.1% to P92.8 apiece. – Rappler.com