Stock market resumes upswing

The local stock barometer resumed its upswing on selective buying on Monday as investors priced in the final burst of second quarter earnings reporting, the MSCI rebalancing and improved risk-taking across the region.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index added 19.07 points or 0.27 percent to close at 7,027.58.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P8.25 billion. Despite the rise of the main index, market breadth was negative as 70 advancers were outnumbered by 118 decliners while 41 stocks were unchanged.

With the PSEi breaching the 7,000-mark last week on the back of gains posted by PLDT due to the quarterly rebalancing of the MSCI index, AB Capital Securities analyst Joyce Ann Ramos said a follow-through upside movement would occur this week as many portfolio managers will have to adjust their funds to replicate the new equity weighting until the rebalancing effectivity on Sept. 1.

“However, as corporate earnings and foreign updates remain as market catalysts, [a] cautious stance will mostly be observed by the investors,” she said.

ALI (+1.88 percent), benefiting from a risk weight adjustment in the MSCI, was among those that led the PSEi higher alongside Bloomberry, EDC and FGEN, which all went up by over 2 percent on favorable first semester earnings report. Doris C. Dumlao