PSEi hits new high for 2014 at 7,096.49 despite ‘ghost month’
PSE index as of August 20, 2014, 3:39 PM. Screengrab from https://edge.pse.com.ph/index/form.do
MANILA, Philippines—The local stock barometer retested the 7,100 mark and carved a new high for 2014 on Wednesday as investors rode on the positive momentum for local equities.
Extending its winning streak for the third straight session, the Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 13.74 points or 0.19 percent to close at 7,096.49. The index pared gains after hitting an intra-day high of 7,130.98.
Value turnover for the day amounted to P10.8 billion. There were 93 advancers that edged out 79 decliners while 42 stocks were unchanged.
The services counter eked out the most gain on Wednesday, rising by 1.06 percent while the financial, industrial and property counters also picked up. These made up for the slack in the holding firm and mining/oil counters.
“Momentum” was the day’s key driver, said veteran stock broker Joseph Roxas of Eagle Equities Inc.
Since the break-out past 7,000 partly due to index-tracking funds’ adjustment to the latest MSCI rebalancing , in turn benefiting large-cap stocks like PLDT and ALI, there has been follow-through buying at the market.
Roxas noted that the so-called “ghost month” – the period when many Asian investors tend to be more cautious – turned out to be “Casper, the friendly ghost.”
The PSEi’s next psychological resistance is seen at 7,200.
The day’s most actively traded stock was PLDT (+1.6 percent) one of those whose weights were increased in the MSCI.
EDC (+4.44 percent) was likewise a key index gainer while AP, SM Prime, Bloomberry and GTCAP all gained over 1 percent.
ALI, another beneficiary of the MSCI rebalancing, also contributed to the day’s gains alongside AC, AEV, SMIC and URC.
Outside of PSEi stocks, COSCO rebounded by another 1.34 percent while EW (+0.51 percent) gained in heavy trade.
Nickel mining firm Marcventures rose by 1.49 percent after the lifting of the suspension on its Cantilan mine in Surigao.
On the other hand, AGI fell by 3.58 percent after posting a decline in first semester profits while property arm Megaworld was also down by 2.33 percent.
Metrobank and Petron were both down by over 1 percent, in the case of the latter being due to the discounted share-sale planned by its retirement fund. BDO also slipped by 0.33 percent.
Outside of PSEi stocks, Puregold slipped by 0.29 percent as investors factored in slower first semester earnings.
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