PSEi breaches 5,900 mark

Local stocks rallied by 2 percent Tuesday, bringing the local stock barometer back to the 5,900 level, as a regional upswing ahead of a crucial US Federal Reserve meeting encouraged more bargain-hunting.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) regained 116.45 points to close at 5,928.99, rising for the third straight session. Some dealers said a small tapering by the US Fed had been discounted by the market.

All counters were up but the biggest gainers were the industrial (+2.83 percent) and the financial (+2.32 percent) counters.

Value turnover amounted to P9.29 billion, including a P2.8-billion block sale of MWC shares as Ayala Corp. acquired an additional 5.7-percent stake from Mitsubishi Corp. at P20 a share.

Market breadth was positive, with 105 advancers overwhelming 52 decliners while 40 stocks were unchanged.

Foreign selling worth P6.34 billion exceeded foreign buying of P3.43 billion.

In its research note, DA Market Securities said the local stock market had entered an ideal buying window from 6,000 and below.

The barriers to watch on the upside, DA Market said, would be 6,265 and 6,482. “Unless 6,482 is broken on the upside, the market remains to be in a downward trend,” it said. Doris C. Dumlao