The local stock barometer retested the 8,100 mark Wednesday, riding on a regional upswing fueled by hopes of stimulus from the US and Japan.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) racked up 75.94 points or 0.95 percent to close at 8,100.48, driven by selective buying of large-cap stocks.
The gains were led by the industrial and holding firm counters, which both rose more than 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 as there were more decliners (100) than advancers (93) for the day.
Jollibee led the PSEi higher with its 3.12-percent gain while Ayala Corp. rose by 2.14 percent. Metro Pacific Investments, Ayala Land, URC and SM Investments Corp. all advanced by more than 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,
Aboitiz Equity Ventures and LT Group slipped.
Other notable decliners included Vitarich (-11.03 percent), Robinsons Retail Holdings (-1.45 percent) and Cemex (-2.59 percent). Doris Dumlao-Abadilla