51.   Among the market heavyweights that pulled the main index higher were food and beverage conglomerate San Miguel, power retailer Manila Electric, and oil refiner Petron.

52.   Anxiety over the Japanese economy and its wobbly stock market, whose main index fell to its lowest levels of the year last week, drove the yen down.

53.   An overnight sell-off on Wall Street spooked Japanese financial markets Friday morning, pushing the main stock index down more than one percent.

54.   Arbitrage selling, spurred by declining futures prices, pushed the main index lower, traders said.

55.   Asian stock markets closed mostly higher Monday, with the main indexes rising in Japan for the third straight day.

56.   Blue chip shares recovered in Tokyo Friday, a day after being battered by profit-taking, leading the main stock index back into positive territory.

57.   Bullish buying in technology shares amid an optimistic industry outlook pushed the main index up for the fifth consecutive session.

58.   Bucking the trend was the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where the main index closed higher following the lengthy Chinese New Year holidays.

59.   Bucking the trend was the New Zealand market, where the main index suffered its third consecutive session of losses.

60.   But bargain hunting on dips by domestic investment trust funds and institutional investors pushed the main index back above the key level later in the morning, traders said.