Philippine stocks rally past 6,400 as new money pours into market

MANILA, Philippines—Local stocks rallied further into uncharted territory on Monday, breaking past the 6,400-mark for the first time, as yield-seeking investors snapped up equities amid rosy prospects for the year.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index soared by 117.37 points or 1.86 percent to close at a new record high of 6,435.98.  A new intraday peak was likewise touched at 6,449.44.

This marked the local stock market’s 14th record breakout for the year and the 75th under the term of President Aquino, whose anti-corruption battle-cry has boosted investor confidence in the country.

Fund managers said new money was pouring into the market, as reflected by increasing value turnover.  With interest rates at record-low levels, some investors are reallocating more funds into equities. Based on anecdotal evidence, there is a growing list of institutional and retail investors buying into the market for the first time.

At the same time, the upbeat sentiment in Wall Street is also supporting regional risk appetite especially after the latest US jobs and factory data boosted expectations of economic recovery.

“Demand for local equities is very strong,” said the chief of a leading foreign brokerage.

Value turnover at the stock market on Monday amounted to P11.18 billion.  There were 130 advancers that overwhelmed 50 decliners.

All counters jumped but the day’s biggest gainer was the holding firm counter (+2.57 percent) as conglomerates are seen as a proxy to the growing economy.

Investors loaded up on shares of BDO (+4.14 percent), Petron (+7.52 percent), PLDT (+2.13 percent), Ayala Corp. (+4.08 percent), AGI (+3.45 percent), SMIC (+2.94 percent), MPI (+2.49 percent) and SMC (+4.62 percent).  Metrobank, EDC, ICTSI, AEV, Megaworld and URC also contributed to the PSEi’s gains.

Among non-index stocks, Puregold (+3.43 percent), Bloomberry (+3.34 percent) and GT Capital (+2.98 percent) surged in heavy volume.

Stock markets across the region were also mostly firmer, but none in the magnitude of PSEi’s upswing.  Upbeat capital spending announced by large corporations, such as SMC, MPI, Petron and GT Capital, also contributed to the buoyant sentiment locally.