PSEi bounces to 7,700 level

LOCAL stocks bounced back on Monday as investors sifted through the rubble after Friday’s global market selldown which was triggered by Great Britain’s decision to exit the European Union, also known as “Brexit.”

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 86.18 points or 1.13 percent to close at 7,715.90, tracking the rebound across regional markets.

“There was a shock on Friday, now the market bounced a little. But it’s not the end of the volatility. There’s a lot of uncertainty to factor in,” said Herald van Linde, head of Asia-Pacific equity strategy at HSBC.

After the UK referendum which delivered a surprise decision to leave the EU, HSBC on Friday shifted to a “more defensive” global investment allocation strategy.

“We anticipate increased geopolitical uncertainties in the UK and the eurozone to linger at least in the near term. If there are protracted uncertainties regarding the future outlook of the eurozone integration and whether there would be broader Brexit contagion risks, this could drive asset price in the eurozone further down,” said HSBC head of investment strategy for Asia, Cheuk Wan Fan.

HSBC is underweight on equities but it is upbeat on selected emerging markets in Asia, including the Philippines.

At the local stock market, there were 120 advancers that edged out 74 decliners while 38 stocks were unchanged. Value turnover for the day amounted to P6.81 billion.

The day’s rebound was supported by net foreign buying which amounted to P500 million for the day.

All counters advanced, led by the mining/oil which recouped 3.09 percent after last week’s sell-off following the appointment of an anti-mining advocate, Gina Lopez, as the next Environment czar. The services and property counters were all up by over 1 percent.

Bloomberry led the PSEi higher, rising by 6.23 percent. The integrated gaming resort operator is expected to post better financial results following the sale of its hotel-casino property in Jeju Island, South Korea which has been a financial drag.

Semirara also bounced strongly, rising by 5.13 percent.

ALI gained 3.14 percent while SM Prime and BDO both rose by over 2 percent. PLDT, JG Summit and Globa all rose by over 1 percent.

BPI, URC, MPI, GTCAP and SMIC also contributed to the day’s gains.

Outside of the PSEi, the notable gainers included Apex Mining, which surged by 25 percent.

On the other hand, Megaworld, Metrobank and Jollibee all slipped.