Highest finish for the year

The local stock index on Tuesday extended its winning streak for the fifth session, tracking an upbeat sentiment on Wall Street, to set a new peak for this year ahead of the release of the country’s second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) report.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index added 13.26 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 7,146.35—the highest finish for 2014.

“We believe the market is trading ahead of the GDP figure. With the market recently breaching key resistance levels on heavy supply, the market will be vulnerable if results are weak (below 5.7 percent). Positive results will help justify the higher levels,” said local stock brokerage DA Market Securities, noting that the country’s second quarter GDP growth was projected between 6.2 and 6.7 percent. “Currently, resistance is technically at 7,200. We may see this week’s market performance to sustain above 7,100.”

The day’s upswing was led by the services and mining/oil counters, which both advanced by over 1 percent. The property counter was modestly higher while the financial, industrial and holding firm sub-indices ended lower.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P10.26 billion as investors snapped up large-cap issues. Despite the PSEi’s gain, however, market breadth was negative as there 93 decliners against 76 advancers, while 49 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi’s rise was led by Semirara, which gained 4.47 percent, while parent firm DMCI rose by 2.32 percent. PLDT also gained 2.73 percent and was the most actively traded company for the day.

On the other hand, the PSEi’s rise was tempered by the decline of URC and GT Capital, which both fell by over 2 percent.  Doris C. Dumlao