PSEi rallies on May’s first trading day

THE LOCAL stock barometer advanced by a triple-digit pace on Monday on the back of a last-minute buying binge after a long weekend break.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index racked up 101.62 points or 1.32 percent to close at 7,816.44.

All counters ended higher led by the property sub-index which rose by 2.12 percent and the services sub-index which went up by 1.45 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P8.87 billion. There were 96 advancers that edged out 77 decliners while 56 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was led higher by fast-food giant Jollibee, which surged by 4.02 percent. This consumer stock had a strong performance from the start of the session, said Eagle Equities Inc. president Joseph Roxas. He noted that Jollibee was likely recovering from the sharp selldown seen in the previous month.

Roxas said the local stock market would usually weaken in the month of April, a season for tax payments and long summer holidays but would usually pick up moderately by May. The “sell in May and go away” phenomenon, Roxas said, would usually affect the US markets but won’t consistently hold sway in the local markets.

The day’s most actively traded stock was BPI, which went up by 1.68 percent. ALI and PLDT also helped in perking up the index, respectively rising by 3.49 percent and 2.53 percent in heavy volume.

AC also gained by over 2 percent while SM Prime, EDC, BDO, Megaworld and JG Summit all advanced by over 1 percent. URC, SMIC and AP also contributed modest gains.

Outside of PSEi stocks, Nickel Asia surged by 2.42 percent on prospects for stronger demand for nickel.

On the other hand, Semirara fell by 1 percent while RLC and Metrobank also slipped.

Pent-up demand for stocks over the long weekend break also contributed to the day’s upswing. On Friday, the local market was closed in observance of the Labor Day holiday.

Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital, said the recommendation for this week would still be “buy,” noting that the general trend of the index was strong despite being “overextended.”  

“Pullbacks this week are expected but we see this as a buying opportunity because the index will now be able to form a higher low base around 20-day MA (moving average at 7,440),” Limlingan said.

“Based on current volatility readings, it is possible for the index to reach 7,790 TP (target price) this week but seeing the lack of pullbacks (bear scenario), this may not be sustained and could cause sharp corrections,” he said.