Positive foreign leads buoy Phl stocks

MANILA, Philippines - Local stocks inched up for the third consecutive session yesterday, fueled by positive leads abroad.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 0.64 percent or 45.94 points to close at 7,275.66 while the All Shares index climbed 0.50 percent or 21.11 points to 4,276.05.

“The local market took directions from overseas trend. Sentiments from third quarter earnings are also still lingering,” said Freya Natividad, analyst at Papa Securities Inc.

US markets showed positive sign despite a 0.37 drop in Nasdaq, as both the S&P 500 and the Dow increased 0.07 percent each.

Tokyo’s Nikkei index recovered after the previous day’s slump on the back of expectations of fresh stimulus measures.

Locally, most counters were healthy except for the industrial sector which slipped 0.05 percent or 5.80 points. The holding sector, meanwhile, led the counters as it improved 1.04 percent or 65 points.

Value turnover improved to P8 billion from the previous day’s P6.16 billion.

But despite the the PSEi’s three-day rally, market breadth remained negative as decliners edged out advancers, 88 to 78, while 53 issues were unchanged.

“We’re still expecting the market to move sideways in the coming days given the lack of local news. For now, corporate earnings remain to be the only local news,” Natividad said.