Telcos lead market higher

The local stock market swung from negative to positive territory yesterday amid sluggish regional markets and a 41-minute disruption in intra-day trading due to a technical glitch.

Rising for the second straight session, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 14.23 points or 0.2 percent to close at 7,247.20, led by the rebound of telecom stocks.

The index was led higher by services, which rose 1.36 percent. PLDT, which was sold down on Thursday, rebounded by 1.67 percent while Globe also rose by 1.27 percent.

The industrial, holding firm and property counters also firmed up while the financial and mining/oil counters slipped.

URC, SM Prime, JG Summit and LTG all gained more than 1 percent while ALI and SMIC also contributed to the day’s gains.

Outside of PSEi stocks, notable gainers included Puregold (+5.11 percent) and Security Bank (+1.99 percent).

Total value turnover amounted to P6.55 billion. There were 102 advancers that edged out 75 decliners while 57 stocks were unchanged.

The market started on a sluggish note as regional markets took their cue from the overnight selloff in Wall Street.

Due to “technical issues,” the PSE halted trading at 10:29 a.m. Trading resumed at 11:10 a.m. This was the first trading disruption seen in the PSE for the year and the first since trading glitches occurred three times in August 2015, calling the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For the week, the PSEi firmed up by 41.58 points or 0.6 percent. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla