PH stock index up over reports of improved manufacturing across globe

pse.com.ph photo

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine stock index firmed up on Tuesday, tracking a regional upswing fueled by improved manufacturing data across the globe.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange added 22.11 points or 0.36 percent to close at 6,083.91.

The upswing was led by the property counter, which went up by 1.26 percent, while the financial, holding firm and services counters also ended in positive territory.

The industrial and mining/oil counters, on the other hand, were in negative territory.

Value turnover for the day was thin at P5.15 billion.  There were 81 advancers versus 57 decliners while 50 stocks were unchanged.

The day’s biggest PSEi gainers were AEV, SM Prime and ICTSI, which all advanced by over 3 percent while DMCI, Petron and Belle climbed by over 2 percent. Megaworld, Bloomberry and BPI ended over 1 percent higher.

On the other hand, the PSEi’s gains were tempered by the decline in share prices of AP (-2.58 percent), AGI (-1.5 percent) and JG Summit (-1.35 percent).  Semirara, SM, EDC, BDO, Philex, Meralco and PLDT also closed lower.

The “ghost month,” the period when a lot of Oriental investors refrain from making big-ticket investments, will end on Wednesday (September 4).

Across the region, stock markets were mostly up on Tuesday on indication that factory outputs from China to the UK have been improving.  Markets moved higher ahead of the release of US manufacturing data, which analysts have been expecting to likewise improve.