PSEi stays above 6,000

The local stock barometer firmed up for the first time in six days Tuesday, staying afloat the 6,000 mark.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index added 21.11 points or 0.35 percent to close at 6,025.37 as foreigners turned from net sellers to buyers.

Value turnover was heavy at P22.29 billion, buoyed by the P8.8-billion overnight sale of JG Summit shares at P40 each.

JG Summit was the day’s most actively traded stock and likewise the biggest PSEi decliner (-6.83 percent) following the discounted share sale, with some of the proceeds to be used by the Gokongwei group to pay for the acquisition of shares in Meralco.

Despite the overall gain in the main index, however, market breadth was still negative, with 111 decliners overwhelming 51 advancers while 30 stocks were unchanged.

Sentiment was mixed across counters, with the industrial, holding firm and property counters leading the index higher while the financial, services and mining/oil counters were in the doldrums.

The PSEi’s gains for the day were led by EDC and Jollibee, which both advanced more than 5 percent. Ayala Corp. gained over 4 percent while ALI and AGI were up more than 3 percent. MPI, AEV, SMIC, URC and Petron were likewise among the big contributors to the PSEi’s rise for the day.

Metrobank, in its weekly research, expects the market to trade downwards with higher volume and selling pressures on the first few trading days of this week.

“However, investors will still remain guarded. The rest of the week is seen with light trading and a potential technical rebound in light of the Thanksgiving holiday in the US as well as the actual date of the MSCI rebalancing,” Metrobank said.

One key economic data to watch out for this week is the Philippine third-quarter economic report due on Nov. 28, the bank said. Doris C. Dumlao