PSEi continues to rise

THE LOCAL stock barometer climbed to its 10th record finish yesterday as investors who dumped gaming stocks amid China’s intensified crackdown on high-rollers scouted for investment alternatives.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 54.39 points or 0.7 percent to close at 7,782.57, defying mostly sluggish regional markets. A new intraday high of 7,786.78 was also established.

“Investor confidence in our local market remains strong as shown by the continuous market rally despite the downward trend in the region. Expectations of positive listed company annual income results and untouched key policy rates [by the local central bank] in the coming days fuel the upbeat market performance. Given this favorable backdrop, we hope that the new levels reached
would become the springboard for a more resilient market even as global uncertainties persist,” PSE president Hans Sicat said in a statement.

Dealers said there was also some positioning ahead of the next MSCI rebalancing.

The day’s upswing was led by the industrial sector, which rose 2.3 percent. The holding firm and property countries also firmed up while the services and mining/oil counters weakened.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.59 billion.

Despite the rise of the main index, market breadth was negative as there were twice as much decliners (121) than advancers (52) for the day.

The day’s gain was led by URC (+6.16 percent), Meralco (+3.17 percent), SMIC (+2.61 percent), JG Summit (+1.85 percent) and GTCAP (+1.02 percent) while BDO, PLDT, MPI, Megaworld and ALI also contributed to the day’s gains.

On the other hand, gaming-related stocks fell sharply on news that China would constrain foreign casinos from marketing their gaming resorts to gamblers from mainland China. Doris C. Dumlao