PSEi makes 28th all-time high on investment grade, Wall St. gains

GMA News May 3, 2013 4:25pm



The PSEi soared to its 28th all-time high for the year, following an investment grade rating from Standard & Poor's Ratings Services and Wall St. gains overnight.

The bellwether PSEi ended Friday's session up 121.93 points or 1.72 percent to 7,215.35, surpassing the 7,120.48 all time-high on April 22. It also touched an intraday record of 7,230.40 early in the session.

The broader all shares index also added 65.41 points or 1.48 percent to 4,490. All indices were in the green, led by holding firms which gained 2.42 percent and financials which advanced by 2.31 percent.

"The credit rating upgrade by S&P... Basically, that's what drove the market," Juan Rafael Supangco, research head at Angping & Associates Securities Inc., told GMA News Online.

The market was also cued by the gains New York stocks carved overnight on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial average added 130.63 points or up 0.89 percent at 14,831.58, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, the S&P index rose 14.89 points or 0.94 percent at 1,597.59, while the Nasdaq index went up 41.49 points or 1.26 percent at 3,340,62.

"The heavyweights Ayala Corp. and SM Investment Corp. led the growth as holding firms cover investment and portfolio assets. Foreign investors are looking at that, backing it on broad-based growth," said Supangco.

More than 3.53 billion shares valued at P15.83 billion were traded. Advancers edged out decliners 120 to 71, while 30 stocks were unchanged. — VS, GMA News