Stock market firms up

THE LOCAL stock barometer firmed up at the 7,500 level on Tuesday on selective buying of large-cap stocks.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recouped 49.32 points or 0.66 percent to close at 7,505.48. Across the region, sentiment was mostly cautious following the collapse of talks over Greek debt and ahead of a closely monitored US Federal Reserve policy meeting.

At the local market, all counters ended higher led by services counter which rose by 1.16 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.43 billion.

Despite the PSE’s rise, market breadth was negative, with 77 advancers being overshadowed by 85 decliners while 55 stocks were unchanged.

Bloomberry led the PSEi’s rise, gaining by 4.4 percent, followed by Metrobank which went up by 2.8 percent.

Shares of URC, GTCAP, PLDT, Semirara, SM Prime, ICTSI and DMCI also rose by over 1 percent.

Outside of PSEi stocks, FNI succumbed to profit-taking (-5 percent).

One catalyst seen for this week is the US Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting which would end on Wednesday. Investors are awaiting clues on how soon the US central bank will hike interest rates, which in turn will have a big impact on global investors’ risk appetite. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla