PSEi up 1.18%, back to 7,300 mark

The local stock barometer climbed back to the 7,300 mark yesterday as investors tempered expectations on the US Federal Reserve’s next interest rate hike.

Tracking the rebound across regional markets, the Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 85.49 points or 1.18 percent to close at 7,331.46. This was even as the US markets ended a bit lower overnight.

“Risk sentiment consolidated overnight, even as markets continued to push the dollar lower. Amidst renewed concerns about the Trump administration’s economic agenda, investors are finding comfort in even slight pullbacks in the probability of another Fed (US Federal Reserve) rate hike in June. Although market pricing for future Fed tightening has shifted only slightly, the risk of a more rapid pace of rate hikes has subsided alongside the rising challenge to the Trump fiscal agenda,” Citigroup said in a research note.

Citi said it was surprised by the resilience of the US equity markets but remained of the view that the soft dollar and lower US rates “offered an environment for emerging markets to continue to perform.”

At the local market, only the mining/oil counter ended lower for the day. The local mining sector is reeling from regulatory challenges in the country while oil prices have slipped below $50 per barrel.

All other counters at the stock market firmed up, led by the the financial and holding firm counters that rose by over 1 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P6.62 billion. There was a modest net foreign buying of P53 million.

Market breadth was positive, with 100 advancers edging out 80 decliners while 48 stocks were unchanged.

LTG led the day’s upswing, gaining by 4.86 percent as it continues to benefit from the crackdown against the illegal activities of its main rival. SM Investments and Metrobank both went up by over 3 percent while BPI and JG Summit both rose by over 2 percent.

BDO, PLDT, DMCI, Ayala Corp. and Globe Telecom all gained over 1 percent while MPI, Megaworld, Jollibee, Semirara and AEV also eked out gains.

Notable gainers outside the PSEi were gaming Melco Crown (+5.23 percent) and Cebu Air (+1.84 percent).