PSEi breaches 7,600 for 1st time on upbeat economic prospects

MANILA, Philippines – The local stock barometer breached the 7,600-mark for the first time in history on Tuesday on upbeat economic and corporate earnings prospects this 2015.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index advanced by 43.9 points or 0.6 percent to close at a new record high of 7,630.57. The PSEi also set a new all-time intraday peak at 7,631.85.

“Investor interest continues to be fueled by expectations of good 2014 economic data and revenue growth. We are also pleased to note that fund managers remain upbeat about the market’s prospects,” said PSE president Hans Sicat.

Elsewhere in the region, markets were mostly higher on rising optimism on Europe, which recently unveiled a massive monetary stimulus.

Joseph Roxas, president of local brokerage Eagle Equities Inc., said local stocks had risen too soon and were nearing overbought levels, suggesting that a correction might be near. But he said 7,500-7,550 would provide some support to the index.

The day’s upswing was led by the financial and industrial counters while holding firms and property counters contributed modest gains.

The services and mining/oil counters declined.

Value turnover amounted to P11.66 billion. Market breadth was positive as there were 104 advancers that outnumbered 91 decliners while 38 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was led higher by AP (+5.14 percent) while Metrobank, FGEN and BDO all rose by over 3 percent. Meralco advanced by 2.96 percent.

EDC, ALI and AGI all gained by over 1 percent while SMIC and Bloomberry also contributed modest gains.

Outside of PSEi stocks, one notable gainer was Max’s (+7.09 percent). The day’s most actively traded stock was Security Bank, which rose by 1.09 percent after setting an initial price guidance of 4.2 percent per annum for its five-year US dollar bond debut.

On the other hand, JG Summit, PLDT, Jollibee and Megaworld all declined. Nickel Asia was down by 3.05 percent.