PSEi firms up ahead of Lenten break

MANILA, Philippines—SM-related shares of stock perked up the local stock index ahead of a long weekend break on Wednesday alongside mostly firmer regional markets.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index added 49.52 points or 0.75 percent to close at 6,671.18. All counters ended higher but the biggest gainer was the property sub-index (+1.43 percent).

For the three-day trading week, the PSEi gained 74.22 points or 1.1 percent, tracking upbeat Wall Street sentiment in the last two sessions.

On Wednesday, regional markets traded mostly higher, tracking US gains and likewise as investors were relieved after China posted a first quarter gross domestic product growth of 7.4 percent versus the consensus forecast of 7.3 percent.

Foreign investors were still in a net buying position amounting to around P322 million, providing support to local equities.

Turnover for the day amounted to P8.39 billion.

There were 119 advancers against 63 decliners while 40 stocks were unchanged.

The day’s most actively traded stock was property giant SM Prime (+3.36 percent) which likewise led the property counter higher after announcing an aggressive P400-billion five-year roadmap to scale up businesses in the Philippines and mainland China. Its parent firm SMIC (+0.97 percent) was the second most actively traded.

Other large-cap stocks that contributed to the day’s rise were Metrobank and MPI which both jumped by over 1 percent. Index heavyweight PLDT (+1.45 percent) likewise aided the index along with GTCAP (+1.2 percent).

ALI, BPI, URC, AGI and DMCI also contributed to the PSEi’s gains.

Outside of PSEi stocks, Robinsons Retail, Nickel Asia and Puregold gained in heavy volume.

On the other hand, Megaworld, BDO, AP and JG Summit slipped for the day.

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