Bargain hunting snaps stocks’ 3-day skid

MANILA, Philippines — Investors yesterday bought bargain shares to take advantage of recent declines, pushing the local stock exchange into positive territory and snapping a three-day losing streak.

The broader All Shares index also rose by 1.67 percent, or 52.84 points, to end at 3,213.96.

Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said investors capitalized on the PSEi’s recent skid to purchase cheap stocks. They also monitored the rebalancing of fund manager WisdomTree Inc. for stock-specific gains.

Still, Limlingan warned against viewing the one-day gain as a win for the PSEi. He said investor sentiment is still down, dragged by the worsening peso situation following its drop to new lows.

“Sentiment is expected to remain cautious in the coming sessions after the peso touched the 64-per-dollar level,” Limlingan said.

In particular, investors are concerned that hot inflation is here to stay, pushing up corporate costs and pressuring the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to hike borrowing rates.

All sectoral gauges picked up yesterday, with counters facilitating P9.52 billion in trading, as winners edged out losers, 104 to 66, while 76 issuers were unchanged.