PSEi up slightly on local buying

The local stock barometer ended slightly higher on Wednesday on selective stock picking mostly by domestic investors.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 9.25 points or 0.12 percent to close at 7,943.93.

Local stockbrokerage Papa Securities said some optimism had been expected as Chinese President Xi Jingping’s speech allayed trade war fears in Wall Street.

“The President had discussed plans supporting free trade and opening up the country’s economy with policies such as lowering vehicle import tariff,” the brokerage said.

Overnight, the Dow Jones industrial average racked up 428.9 points or 1.79 percent, perking up most markets in the region.

The PSEi was led higher by the holding firms, which gained 1.16 percent, while the industrial counter also firmed up.

On the other hand, the mining/oil counter fell by 2.37 percent, while the property sector slumped by 1.07 percent. The financial and services counter also slipped.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P6.52 billion. Local investors mostly supported the market as there was net foreign selling of P627.37 million.

Despite the slight increase in the PSEi, market breadth was negative. There were 100 decliners that edged out 91 advancers while 66 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was led higher by Ayala Corp., which advanced by 3 percent, while Jollibee and AGI both gained more than 1 percent.

BDO Unibank, SM Investments, Universal Robina Corp., GT Capital, PLDT and Metro Pacific Investments all gained.

Outside the PSEi, third telco aspirant Now Corp. rallied by 10.69 percent while Macro Asia added 5.26 percent.