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Doris Dumlao-Abadilla
The local stock barometer rallied to the 6,800 level in thin trade on Wednesday on a continued mix of bargain-hunting and window-dressing activities.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index gained by 188.24 points or 2.83 percent to close at 6,846.44, tracking upbeat regional markets.
Investors also took their cue from the overnight rise in US stocks to nearly record highs.
“The PSEi continued both its bargain hunting and window dressing easily on the back of thin volumes. Aside from this, The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 11.23 points, or 0.1 percent to end at 19,945.04, according to preliminary figures, remaining just shy of the psychologically important 20,000 milestone,” said Regina Capital development managing director Luis Gerardo Limlingan.
At the local market, trading volume was scant at P3.45 billion, however, as many investors are on a long holiday break.
There was a modest net foreign buying of P270 million for the day.
All counters rose led by the holding firm sub-index which surged by over 3 percent as investors bet on improved prospects for 2017.
The industrial, services and property indices all rose by over 2 percent.
There were 119 advancers that edged out 58 decliners while 47 stocks were unchanged.
Ayala Land led the PSEi higher, gaining 5.14 percent. This was also the most actively traded stock for the day.
Large-cap stocks BDO, URC, SM Investments and Aboitiz Equity all jumped by over 4 percent while Jollibee, PLDT and ICTSI all rose by over 3 percent.
Metro Pacific Investments, SM Prime, GT Capital, JG Summit, BPI and Globe all gained over 1 percent.
Security Bank and Metrobank also contributed to the day’s gains.
Megaworld bucked the day’s upswing, declining by 0.85 percent.
To date, the PSEi is still trading lower than the end- 2015 level of 6,952.08. The index went down last year by 3.85 percent.
Thursday will mark the last stock trading day for the year as the market will pause for a long New Year turnover break.