PSEi bucks regional downturn

THE LOCAL stock barometer returned to positive territory on Monday despite a regional downturn triggered by weak factory data out of China.

Rebounding after a three-day decline, the Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 64.59 points or 0.91 percent to close at 7,198.85.

All counters gained, led by holding firms which rose by 1.47 percent. There were 96 advancers that edged out 71 decliners while 43 stocks were unchanged.

Value turnover, however, was thin at P4.48 billion. There was a modest net foreign buying worth P64 million for the day.

Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development, said a bounce was likely this week as the PSEi approaches the 50-day moving average and range support at 7,000.

“Since we’ve spotted no technical divergences, we see last week’s correction as healthy and important in establishing a stronger trend moving forward,” he said. “A range trading strategy is raised as we forecast the index to continue trading within a consolidation range at least for the next one to three weeks until key levels are breached.”

JG Summit led the PSEi higher, rising by 3.64 percent. Patriarch John Gokongwei has transferred most of his remaining direct shares in the conglomerate to heirs, including Lance Gokongwei and Robina Gokongwei-Pe. URC likewise rose by 2.19 percent.

MPI also gained by 2.3 percent while BDO, SM Prime, Globe and Megaworld all rose by over 1 percent. AC, ALI, Metrobank, PLDT and Jollibee also contributed to the PSEi’s gains.

Elsewhere in the region, stock markets fell as data over the weekend showed that China’s manufacturing sector continued to contract.