PSE index as of 03:46, October 30, 2013 https://www.pse.com.ph
MANILA, Philippines — The local stock market rallied on Wednesday, tracking an overnight surge on Wall Street to record-highs, as investors anticipated that the US Federal Reserve would sustain monetary stimulus.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index racked up 53.75 points or 0.82 percent to close at 6,597.21, firming up for the second straight session.
Reflective of buoyant markets, stock market debutante Harbor Star Shipping Services rose by 1.6 percent. From its initial public offering price of P1.88 per share, Harbor Star – one of the country’s leading tugboat operators – saw its share price rise to close at P1.91 per share on a value turnover of P77.6 million on listing day.
“I think Tugboat was priced quite cheaply but it’s really for the retail rather than institutional investors. It’s a good issue; it’s quite unique. We have very little logistics-type issues in the market so it gives retail investors good choice for widening portfolio and given the history of small caps that are tradable and have gained following, this will be similarly tradable,” said Gus Cosio, president of First Metro Asset Management Inc.
“Given that the issuance comprises all new shares, it means all proceeds are going into the company; therefore, it’s value accretive,” Cosio said.
“We are pleased to note the company’s vigorous efforts to be the leader in harbor assistance services in the Philippines even as it prepares to seek growth opportunities in Southeast Asia. We are confident that Harbor Star will realize its aspirations under the stewardship of its visionary leader,” PSE director Edgardo Lacson said in his welcome remarks at the listing ceremony on Wednesday.
Harbor Star currently operates in 12 base ports all over the Philippines, including Manila International Container Terminal, Bataan, Batangas, Cagayan de Oro and Davao. In 2012, the company provided services to over 5,600 ship calls, majority of which were foreign-flag vessels.
Markets across the globe are expecting the Federal Open Market Committee to maintain the status quo on its $85-billion monthly bond buying operations during its ongoing monetary setting. This confirms an apparent market consensus that the much-feared tapering of monetary stimulus won’t happen until next year.
US stocks closed at new all-time highs on Tuesday ahead of the FOMC meeting, sending good tidings to Asian markets.
At the local market, the day’s PSEi outperformers were AEV, ALI and BPI which are rose by over 3 percent. Megaworld was up by 2.4 percent while LTG, Jollibee, ICTSI, MPI, AP and Metrobank were all up by over 1 percent.
On the other hand, a big PSEi lagger was SMC (-8.22 percent) due to the ex-date of the property dividend. SMC is distributing as property dividends shares in its controlling shareholder Top Frontier Investment Holdings Inc. as a prelude to the latter’s listing on the local stock exchange by way of introduction.
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