THE LOCAL stock barometer firmed up slightly on Friday, bucking mostly cautious trading across the region.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index added 18.06 points or 0.23 percent to close at 7,771.52.
Elsewhere in the region, trading was cautious ahead of the release of a closely awaited US jobs report, which in turn will provide clues on how soon US interest rates will rise.
For the four-day trading week, the local index lost a total of 58.83 points or 0.7 percent.
The financial, holding firm, services and property counters supported the PSEi’s rise.
On the other hand, the mining/oil index tumbled by 1.7 percent on news that some local mining firms had been suspended amid heightened industry scrutiny by the new Environment Secretary Gina Lopez.
The industrial counter likewise fell by 1.7 percent.
Total value turnover for the day amounted to P11.3 billion. There were 104 advancers that edged out 86 decliners while 40 stocks were unchanged.
Investors picked up shares of Bloomberry, which rose by 3.04 percent alongside Metrobank, which gained 2.13 percent.
SM Prime rose by 1.48 percent while ALI, SMIC, PLDT, URC, MPI and Globe also gained.
Outside of the PSEi, notable gainers included Now – which rose by 5.98 percent – while Cirtek gained 2.99 percent and Puregold, by 1.24 percent. These stocks all traded in heavy volume.
On the other hand, AP fell by 2.11 percent alongside JG Summit which fell by 0.06 percent.
One notable decliner was Century Pacific which fell by 5.63 percent to close at P22.65 as shareholders placed out a 5 percent stake (at a discount to market) to boost trading liquidity.