PSEi breaches 7,400

Local stocks sizzled Friday, lifting the main stock barometer to the 7,400 mark, as investors welcomed the economic agenda unveiled by President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) racked up 111.75 points or 1.53 percent to close at a nine-month high of 7,436.79, bucking the downturn across regional markets.

“The market was pleasantly surprised. There is an economic agenda after all,” said veteran stockbroker Joseph Roxas, president of Eagle Equities Inc.

There was P670 million in net foreign buying at the local market for the day.

Elsewhere in the region Friday, stock markets were mostly lower on global growth woes.

Locally, holding firms—a proxy to the domestic economy—led the PSEi’s rise with its 3.13-percent gain. The financial counter also rallied by 2.29 percent while the industrial counter rose by 1.14 percent. The services counter posted a modest gain.

The mining/oil counter fell by 0.49 percent while the property sub-index slipped by 0.14 percent. Duterte did not mention mining in his broad agenda but as a mayor, he had banned mining in Davao City. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla