PSEi firms up at 6,874.88; mining, oil trade leads way

MANILA, Philippines — The local stock barometer firmed up on Monday, tracking relatively buoyant regional markets in turn backed by optimism on US corporate earnings.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 21.81 points or 0.32 percent to close at 6,874.88.

The day’s upswing was led by the mining/oil counter in turn perked up by Philex Mining (+3.21 percent) on reports that its exploration unit PXP was planning to rekindle discussions with China’s CNOOC for oil exploration in Recto Bank in offshore Palawan.

The industrial, holding firm and services counters also gained while the cyclical financial and property counters ended lower.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P5.44 billion. There were 90 advancers that narrowly beat 85 decliners while 47 stocks were unchanged.

Local investors supported the market’s gain on Monday as foreign investors posted a net selling position of about P780 million.

Apart from Philex, the PSEi was also boosted by the gains of LTG (+5.3 percent) and DMCI (+1.47 percent). SMPH and Megaworld also firmed up.

JG Summit gained 0.78 percent as food unit URC announced a deal to take over the largest biscuit and snack food company in New Zealand. Trading on URC was suspended on Monday.

Outside of PSEi stocks, D&L and Sinophil were among the notable gainers, both rising by over 5 percent. Sinophil’s parent firm Belle announced plans to pare down interest in Sinophil to boost stock trading liquidity. Stock brokerage Campos Lanuza & Co. said the planned sale of secondary shares by Belle should present gains for Belle while Sinophil would benefit from a dividend play.

Meanwhile, the PSEi’s gains were tempered by the decline of AGI (-1.61 percent) while SMIC, ALI and Metrobank likewise slipped.