PSEi dips after 5-day holiday for papal visit

The local stock barometer slightly declined on Monday as trades reopened after the long holiday break related to the Papal visit.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 5.56 points or 0.07 percent to close at 7,485.32 as the market locked up some gains after last week’s breakout to record highs.

Trading was mixed across counters, with the industrial, holding firm and services counters ending lower. On the other hand, the mining/oil counter rose by 1.1 percent, tracking the rebound in oil prices while the cyclical financial and property counters also posted modest gains.

Despite the PSEi’s slight pullback, market breadth was positive as there were more advancers (93) than decliners (85). Value turnover for the day amounted to P8.06 billion.

Elsewhere in the region, trading was mostly upbeat following the rebound in oil prices. The exceptions were China and Hong Kong, which saw a bloodbath due to Chinese regulators’ crackdown on margin lending.

The PSEi was weighed down by profit-taking on EDC (-3.68 percent) as well as MPI and Megaworld, which both fell by over 2 percent. ALI and PLDT also dragged down the index, both declining by over 1 percent while URC, SMIC, BDO and LTG also slipped.

On the other hand, SM Prime bucked the PSEi’s decline, rising by 4.92 percent. It was reported that the group had obtained a favorable ruling with regard to the expansion of its Baguio shopping mall.

Metrobank, the day’s most actively traded stock, also gained by over 2 percent, matching the ascent by parent conglomerate GT Capital. Meralco likewise rose by over 2 percent while Bloomberry gained by 1.68 percent. RLC was up by 0.95 percent.

“We see the index driving more advances this week as our bullish conditions were met but some intraday pressure should also be expected since 7,515 is a resistance area,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at local stock brokerage Regina Capital Development Corp.

“Hitting 7,600 this week is possible, given the bullish readings from our indicators. For this week we recommend a buy,” Limlingan said.

He said URC and Megaworld were index issues to consider buying while urging investors to keep watch on BDO, JGS and PLDT for potential breakout trades.