Bargain hunting fuels stock market rebound

MANILA, Philippines — Stocks regained ground yesterday as bargain hunting helped the local bourse recover from two straight days of losses last week.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed by 1.03 percent or 69.87 points to close at 6,850.00.

The broader All Shares index likewise finished in the positive territory, rising by 0.62 percent or 23.53 points higher to 3,811.74.

Philstocks Financial Inc. research manager Japhet Tantiangco said the PSEi rebounded as “investors hunted for bargains at the 6,700 to 6,800 support range” after a two-day decline.

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

Regina Capital Development Corp. managing director Luis Limlingan, meanwhile, traced the rebound to the latest MSCI rebalancing, which came into effect yesterday.

He said investors were also awaiting the minutes of the previous meeting of the US Federal Reserve.

Trading was quite strong with a net value turnover of P9.84 billion, higher than the year-to-date average of P5.19 billion. 

Foreigners were net sellers, resulting in a net outflow of P308.74 million.

All sector indexes ended higher, with services leading the gainers with a 2.06-percent increase.

Market breadth stayed positive, with advancers edging out decliners, 94 against 91, while 64 issues were unchanged.

JG Summit Holdings Inc. was the top index gainer, surging 10.96 percent, while PLDT Inc. was the worst performer after dropping 3.7 percent.