PSEi rises on firmer oil price

THE LOCAL stock barometer firmed up on Thursday as investors across the region welcomed the rebound in oil prices.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index added 52.42 points or 0.73 percent to close at 7,232.97, tracking mostly firmer regional markets.

At the local market, the rebound was led by the holding firm and property counters which both rose by over 1 percent.

Only the services counter fell (-1.9 percent), weighed down by another sell-off on PLDT shares which tumbled by 5.86 percent. The telecom company was the day’s most actively traded stock.

Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital, said the rally in US oil prices of over 5 percent to close near $38 per barrel pulled the markets up.

Following reports that crude inventories had fallen by 4.9 million barrels last week as refineries continued to hike output and imports dropped, Limlingan noted that US stocks immediately reacted to the positive news and rallied strongly to close at new 2016 highs.

“Investors also digested the (US Federal Reserve’s) Fed’s last policy meeting minutes which show that officials expected to raise rates twice this year but timing is confirmed,”Limlingan said.

He added that European equities also finished higher as investors digested new data out of China which showed a stronger service sector.

At the local market, value turnover for the day amounted to P5.6 billion. There were 110 advancers that edged out 91 decliners while 37 stocks were unchanged.

Among the PSEi gainers was Petron (+3.53 percent) while JG Summit, ALI and RLC all advanced by over 2 percent. SMIC, Jollibee, Metrobank, AC and DMCI all gained over 1 percent.

URC, SM Prime, BDO, MPI, GTCAP and BPI also contributed to the day’s gains.

On the other hand, notable gainers outside of PSEi stocks included NOW (+28.65 percent) on the back of a broadband play. RRHI rose by 2 percent.