PSEi rises above 6,500

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index saw a sharp rebound rising above the 6,500-level on Wednesday, following the rally in Wall Street and bucking the general weakness in the region.

The PSEi, aided by gains from index heavyweights like Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., jumped 3.1 percent, or 195.62 points, to 6,507.22 on Thursday. The broader all-shares index was also up 2.71 percent, or 98.39 points, to 3,722.40.

All sub-counters closed in the green with large gains coming from the mining and oil sector, up 6 percent, followed by services, up 4.8 percent, and holding firms, up 3.42 percent. Property stocks also gained 2.76 percent yesterday. A total of 130 companies ended in the green, against 44 losers and 30 that closed unchanged.

Trading, nevertheless, was relatively light with about 1.15 billion shares valued at P6.69 billion changing hands on Wednesday.

Data from the PSE showed foreign buying hit P3.03 billion, for a net gain of P113 million on Wednesday.

PLDT was the most actively traded company, gaining 6.79 percent to P2,170 per share on Thursday.

This was followed by Universal Robina Corp., up 0.54 percent to P186, SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 4.6 percent to P20.90, Ayala Land Inc., up 0.33 percent to P30.30 and Jollibee Foods Corp., which gained 2.79 percent to P206 per share.