Property, banking stocks lift PSEi

THE LOCAL stock barometer stabilized above the 6,600 mark on Wednesday, aided by property and banking stocks which firmed up up ahead of a much-awaited speech by the US Federal Reserve chief and the local monetary policy setting.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index tumbled in early trade but wiped out the losses to end modestly higher on selective buying. It added 0.05 points or 0.001 percent to close at 6,637.48.

The PSEi hit as low as 6,550.12 in intra-day trade but closed at the day’s high.

Investors are keenly awaiting US Fed chief Janet Yellen’s semi-annual testimony to Congress for potential clues on the pace of US monetary tightening.

Locally, the policy-making Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is set to conduct its first monetary policy setting for the year on Thursday. No change in monetary settings is expected but investors likewise await any clue on potential monetary tightening for the rest of the year.

On Wednesday, the property and financial counters saved the day for the PSEi, respectively rising by 0.62 percent and 1.14 percent.

On the other hand, the mining/oil counter slid by 3.99 percent while the industrial, holding and services firms ended lower.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P4.57 billion. Despite the PSEi’s modest rise, market breadth was negative as there were 91 decliners that outnumbered 81 advancers while 39 stocks were unchanged.

BDO led the banking counter with its 3.43 percent rise.

Raising the curtain for the fourth quarter corporate reporting season among banks, Security Bank (non-PSEi stock) gained 0.14 percent after announcing a record high net profit of P7.7 billion for 2015. This suggested a strong fourth quarter performance that boded well for other banking peers.

SM Prime led the property index higher with its 1.21 percent gain.

Emperador (+1.39 percent) and LTG (+2.12 percent) also contributed to the PSEi’s rise.

Outside of the PSEi, notable gainers included gaming stocks Melco and PLC, which both rose by over 18 percent on a gaming recovery play. The sector was the first to be sold off by foreign players during the recent market downturn.

On the other hand, AGI fell by 2.64 percent while Jollibee, SMIC, BPI, PLDT and Semirara all slipped by over 1 percent. URC and MPI also closed lower.