PSEi revisits 8,100

THE LOCAL stock barometer retested the 8,100 mark on Wednesday, riding on a regional upswing fuelled by hopes of stimulus from the US and Japan.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index racked up 75.94 points or 0.95 percent to close at 8,100.48, driven by selective buying of large-cap stocks. Elsewhere in the region, stock markets were mostly higher in anticipation of stimulus from the central banks of US and Japan.

At the local market, the gains were led by the industrial and holding firm counters which both rose by over 1 percent while the financial, services and property counters also firmed up. Only the mining/oil counter slipped.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P8.61 billion.

Despite the PSEi’s rise, market breadth was negative. There were more decliners (100) than advancers (93) for the day.

Jollibee led the PSEi higher with its 3.12 percent gain while AC rose by 2.14 percent. MPI, ALI, URC and SMIC all advanced by over 1 percent.

PLDT, Megaworld, GT Capital and Metrobank also contributed to the day’s gains.

Outside the PSEi stocks, investors gobbled up shares of Xurpas (+3.58 percent), Cirtek Holding (+2.34 percent) and Security Bank (+1.71 percent) in relatively heavy volume.

Meanwhile, SM Prime, AEV and LTG slipped.

Other notable gainers decliners included Vitarich (-11.03 percent), RRHI (-1.45 percent) and Cemex (-2.59 percent).