PSEi hits new high

THE LOCAL stock barometer inched up to a record finish on Monday, tracking mostly firmer regional markets as Japan crawled out of economic recession.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index added 11.2 points or 0.14 percent to close at 7,784.65. This slightly beat the previous record closing of 7,782.78 posted last Feb. 9.
The index retested the 7,800 in intra-day peak, hitting as high as 7,801.02 but this was shy of the all-time intra-day high of 7,807.71 posted on Feb. 10.
Across the region, trading sentiment was mostly buoyant. It was reported that Japan had come out of recession in the fourth quarter of 2014, growing by an annualized 2.2 percent. Japan suffered economic recession in the two previous quarters.
At the local market, the financial, industrial, holding firm and property counters firmed up for the day while the services and mining/oil counters slipped.
Value turnover was thin at P6.3 billion. There were 86 advancers versus 87 decliners while 54 stocks were unchanged.
Andrew Tan-led Megaworld (+2.5 percent) and AGI (+1.05 percent) were among those that led the PSEi higher. Metrobank went up by 2.5 percent while SMIC also gained by 1.2 percent.
URC, ALI, AC, MPI, EDC and JG Summit also firmed up.
Outside of PSEi stocks, one notable gainer was Vista Land, which rose by 3.17 percent.
On the other hand, FGEN and Globe slipped by over 1 percent. PLDT, GTCAP, Jollibee and ICTSI also declined.
Retailers Puregold and RRHI both declined by over 1 percent.
“Our hold recommendation remains in place but taking advantage of pullbacks will not be the strategy anymore due to heightened risk of strong pullbacks,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at local stock brokerage Regina Capital Development Corp.
“We advise traders to be very cautious this week as breaking 20-day MA (moving average) will trigger to take profits until prices form support at 32-day MA (7,510). Volatility has been slowing down but still relatively high so expect intraday movements of plus or minus 72 points on the average,” Limlingan said.