PSEi bounces to 7,300 mark

The local stock barometer ended slightly higher on Monday, bouncing back from the bloodbath in the last two trading days.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed at 7,306.69, gaining 7.66 points or 0.11 percent. Elsewhere in the region, most stock markets also ended higher.

At the local market, the property sector led the PSEi higher with its 1.18 percent gain. The financial, industrial and holding firm counters also firmed up.

On the other hand, the services and mining and oil sectors went down by less than 1 percent.

BDO chief strategist Jonathan Ravelas downplayed today’s gain, calling it “nothing but a technical bounce” after a two-day decline.

He noted that concerns about valuation had caused the PSEi to decline by 235.27 points in the last two days. At the same time, he said investors had pocketed gains after the announcement of the 6.9 percent first quarter Philippine gross domestic product growth.

He sees the PSEi trading this week at the 7,000 to 7,200 level.

SM Prime, Ayala Corp., AEV led today’s advancers, moving up by more than 1 percent. ALI, SMIC, Jollibee, MPI, BDO and GTCAP also gained.

Non-PSEi DoubleDragon Properties (+6.12 percent), Alterra Capital Partners (+5.46 percent), Security Bank (2.8 percent) also went up significantly. In the case of Security Bank, this company will be included in the closely-tracked MSCI Philippines index after the end of May.

Sliding by more than 1 percent are Universal Robina Corporation, JG Summit Holdings, Inc and Philippine long Distance Telephone Company. DMCI Holdings, Inc. also declined.

Puregold Price Club, Inc. also slid by 2.88 percent.

Total value turnover posted at P8 billion. There were also 89 advancers and 90 decliners.