Philippine shares rebound on bargain hunting

PHILIPPINE SHARES rebounded on Monday as investors picked up bargains following the index’s two-day decline and as positive sentiment on Wall Street spilled over to the local market.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed by 1.03% or 69.87 points to end at 6,850 on Monday, while the broader all shares index rose by 0.62% or 23.53 points to close at 3,811.74.

“The local market bounced back as investors hunted for bargains at the 6,700 to 6,800 support range following two straight days of decline,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.

“The positive cues from Wall Street’s performance last Friday also helped in the market’s rise,” he added.

Wall Street closed higher on Friday, with all three major indexes posting weekly gains, as investors took comfort from data pointing to robust economic activity in the world’s biggest economy, Reuters reported.

A measure of business activity raced to a 31-month high in November, boosted by hopes for lower interest rates and more business-friendly policies from President-elect Donald J. Trump’s administration next year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 426.16 points or 0.97% to 44,296.51; the S&P 500 gained 20.63 points or 0.35% to 5,969.34; and the Nasdaq Composite gained 31.23 points or 0.16% to 19,003.65.

“Philippine shares bounced back to start the week after previous sessions in the red as investor followed the latest MSCI rebalancing which came into effect this afternoon,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message on Monday.

“Key economic data releases in the United States this week include the durable goods report and core personal consumption expenditures inflation, both scheduled for Wednesday. Additionally, the minutes from the November Federal Open Market Committee meeting will be released on Tuesday. Notably, no speeches from Fed officials are expected this week,” he added.

All sectoral indices closed higher on Monday. Services surged by 2.05% or 43.25 points to 2,144.36; holding firms went up by 1.83% or 104.15 points to 5,777.29; industrials jumped by 0.76% or 71.77 points to 9,467.15; mining and oil rose by 0.14% or 11.32 points to 7,672.81; financials climbed 0.06% or 1.53 points to 2,278.16; and property inched up by 0.02% or 0.61 point to 2,583.22.

“JG Summit Holdings, Inc. was the top index gainer, surging 10.96% to P24.30. PLDT, Inc. was the worst index performer, dropping 3.7% to P1,300,” Mr. Tantiangco said.

Value turnover increased to P9.98 billion on Monday with 701.36 million shares exchanged from the P3.15 billion with 604.62 million issues traded on Friday.

Advancers narrowly beat decliners, 94 versus 91, while 64 names closed unchanged.

Net foreign selling declined to P308.74 million on Monday from P584.49 million on Friday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave with Reuters