Philippine shares breaks 5,700 level on Greek debt plan

The Philippine stock market rallied to a new high and pierced the 5,700 level despite warnings' of analysts that the equity prices have reached overbought levels. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index rose by 0.59 percent or 33.58 points to close at its intra-day high of 5,706.28 on Tuesday. The broader all-share index also gained 0.42 percent or 15.41 points to 3,676.53. Trading volume reached 3.09 billion shares worth 8.29 billion pesos (202.74 million U.S. dollars) with 76 stocks advancing, 75 declining, and 56 unchanged. All six counters closed in the positive. "At this point, there appears no stopping the market's rush to more record closes before the year comes to an end," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said. Calaycay said two major concerns have eased, contributing to investors' optimism. Calaycay said a compromise on Greece's situation and a reversal in China's manufacturing numbers were among the news welcomed positively by investors on Tuesday. "A third thorn may soon be lifted that is, if the U.S. manages to avoid the fiscal cliff," he said. Domestically, the "substantial improvement in the fortunes of the domestic economy" seems to be a foregone conclusion already. The Philippine economy grew by 7.1 percent in the third quarter. "With everything appearing to fall into place over the short run, the only thing that pulls the market down are intermittent profittaking which are in no way heavy enough to reverse the bullish trend," Calaycay said. Stocks in the 30-company index closed mixed. Among those picked up were SM Prime Holdings, Inc., Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc., and Universal Robina Corp.