PSEi posts new high

THE LOCAL stock barometer rose for a third straight session to another record finish on Wednesday as ample liquidity overshadowed valuation jitters.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index racked up 71.32 points or 0.92 percent to close at 7,847.83. This topped the previous record finish of 7,844.06 recorded last Feb. 25.

The gains were led by the property counter, which rose by 2.05 percent ahead of the release of the country’s inflation report for February. The Philippines is among the few countries seen benefiting most from the slump in global oil prices, being a net oil importer.

The financial, industrial and services counters also firmed up. Only the mining/oil counter edged lower.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P9.2 billion. There were 111 advancers versus 69 decliners while 42 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was led higher by LTG, which surged by 4.87 percent while ALI and Bloomberry rose by over 3 percent. RLC also gained by over 1 percent.

BDO, URC, AGI and AC advanced by over 1 percent while SMIC, JG Summit and SM Prime also contributed gains to the index.

Outside of the PSEi, retailer RRHI was one notable gainer, rising by 3.59 percent while another retailer Puregold rose by 1.73 percent. FLI also advanced by 2.98 percent.

Dealers said investors were taking their cue from the record high trading of US stocks despite an overnight correction in Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Index gave up 85.26 points overnight after hitting record highs.

“Not discounting possible further highs, we note a more cautious stance amid rife rotation of among stocks as investors profit take on stocks that are fairly valued and seek for more attractive values in the market as full year 2014 earnings results trickle down through early March,” said local stock brokerage DA Market Securities.