THE LOCAL stock barometer slightly firmed up on selective buying of large-cap stocks on Thursday while China’s stock market found relief after days of bloodbath.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index reversed early session losses to end up higher by 14.26 points or 0.19 percent at 7,377.69.
But while the PSEi closed higher for the first time in four sessions, risk aversion lingered. Most other regional markets remained in the doldrums on Thursday.
Despite the slight PSEi gain, market breadth was negative. There were 101 decliners that outnumbered 81 advancers while 42 stocks were unchanged.
There was also about P1.16 billion in net foreign selling at the local bourse, which meant that local investors had picked up oversold stocks.
The index was buoyed by the gains posted by the industrial, holding firm and mining/oil counters. On the other hand, the financial, services and property counters weakened.
URC led the PSEi higher, gaining 3.76 percent while Meralco also advanced by 1.45 percent. ALI, AC, Metrobank, EDC and Megaworld.
“External factors have provided selling pressure in the past few days. While these events weigh on the stock market at this time, we remain optimistic that share prices will recover eventually with positive corporate and economic developments providing the impetus for the uptrend. We hope that investors, especially foreign funds, will revisit the fundamentals of the Philippine market and see the bright prospect it has to offer,” PSE president Hans Sicat said in a press statement.
Sicat was referring to the stock market rout in China and the continuing jitters over Greece, the first developed country to default from an International Monetary Fund loan.
Meanwhile, Sicat assured the investing public that the local bourse would be ready to address any technical glitch in the local market like what was seen overnight in Wall Street, if and when they occur.
“The suspension of trading at the New York Stock Exchange, arising from technical issues, highlights the need for bourses to be prepared for any eventuality. At the PSE, we are very mindful of this and we are always anticipating possible risks,” he said.