Philippine stocks up nearly 3 per cent

Philippine stocks up nearly 3 per cent Manila  - Philippine share prices on Tuesday rose 2.77 per cent on the back of Wall Street's overnight rally, disregarding government reports that exports were down for the 11th-straight month.

The 30-share composite index of the Philippine Stock Exchange gained 81 points to close at 2,996.71.

A total of 5.18 billion shares worth 6.94 billion pesos (147.6 million dollars) were traded.

Gainers swamped losers 88 to 33 while 50 issues were unchanged.

Traders said market sentiment was boosted by the Dow Jones Industrial Average's jump Monday to a 13-month high after the Group of 20, the world's largest economies, pledged to keep stimulus measures in place.

Investors also snapped up mining stocks after gold prices rose amid a falling US dollar, they said.

The local market was unfazed by government reports that Philippine exports were down 18.3 per cent in September from a year ago.

Philippine exports have been posting negative growth since October 2008. For the first nine months of 2009, export receipts declined 29 per cent to 27.639 billion dollars from a year ago. (dpa)