The stock market extended its rally for the fourth straight day in anticipation of higher corporate earnings, as lower oil prices are reducing the cost of operations.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 0.4 percent to a record 7,661.18, on a value turnover of P8.2 billion. Losers, however, beat gainers, 94 to 74, with 52 issues unchanged.
First Gen Corp. of the Lopez Group jumped 6.1 percent to P31.30, while parent First Philippine Holdings Corp. rose 2.2 percent to P96.95.
SM Investments Corp. of retail tycoon Henry Sy gained 2.7 percent to P896, while Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fastfood chain, climbed 2.4 percent to P217.
DMCI Holdings Inc. added 1.2 percent to P15.36. Construction unit D.M. Consunji Inc. bagged the contract to build the Light Rail Transit Line 2 expansion that will run from Santolan in Pasig City to Masinag in Antipolo, Rizal, with a winning bid of P2.27 billion.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is into water and electricity distribution, toll roads and hospitals, rose 1.3 percent to P5.29. Metro Pacific expects earnings growth to accelerate after it gained regulatory approval to raise water tariffs and as cheaper oil boosts vehicle traffic on the company’s toll roads.
“It looks promising for us,” Metro Pacific president Joey Lim, 62, said in an interview Tuesday. Profit at the Philippine unit of Indonesian billionaire Anthoni Salim’s First Pacific Co. is projected to increase 17 percent after rising an estimated 14 percent in 2014, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Unit Manila Electric Co., the largest retailer of electricity, advanced 1.5 percent to P282.60.
BDO Unibank Inc., the biggest lender, fell 1.5 percent to P114, while Bloomberry Resorts Corp., which is expanding to South Korea, retreated 3.1 percent to P12.60 on profit-taking.
The rest of Asian stock markets ended mostly higher Wednesday after reversing earlier losses, although dealers remained nervous following a heavy sell-off in New York sparked by poor earnings reports. With Bloomberg, AFP