Philippine shares close 0.50 pct higher Thursday

MANILA, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Philippine shares closed 0.50 percent higher on Thursday.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index increased by 38.80 points to 7,836.55. The all-share index went up by 17.27 points, or 0.36 percent, to 4,822.06.

Trading volume reached 694.77 million shares worth 6.57 billion pesos (125.40 million U.S. dollars).

There were 97 gainers, 80 losers while 53 stocks closed flat.