Local stock index soars past 7,700

The local stock barometer surged to the 7,700 level yesterday as expectations of robust first-quarter local corporate earnings and a market-friendly outcome of the first round of French elections boosted risk-taking.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) racked up 111.58 points or 1.47 percent to close at 7,700.46, hitting a new high for the year and testing a key resistance.

“It’s a combination of expectations of good earnings plus value [investing],” said Jose Mari Lacson, head of research at ATR Asset Management. Lacson said investors were pricing in potential corporate earnings upside while others were starting to offer good values for those seeking relatively cheap stocks to buy.

Foreign investors were net buyers in the stock market amounting to P1.45 billion.

“Philippine markets soared by more than 100 point following the sentiment of US stocks rallying to finish higher the previous trading session. Major indexes advanced more than 1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq scoring a record high close following a strong showing by centrist Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential election, which averted fears of a euroskeptic-only runoff,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 216.13 points, or 1.05 percent overnight, to 20,763.89 as investors tracked the first round of French presidential elections, where Macron and Marine le Pen emerged as the top two candidates. The second round of elections will be held in May.

“The results are very close to the polls,” BofA Merrill Lynch said in a research note. “There was no hidden populist vote. This helps [make credible] the benign message of the second round polls.”

Overall, BofA Merrill Lynch said the first round of French elections indicated “lower political uncertainty given accurate polls and likely Macron win.”

At the local market, all counters ended higher, led by the holding firms, which rose by 2 percent. The industrial, services and property counters also gained over 1 percent.

Total value turnover for the day amounted to P8.31 billion.

There were 113 advancers that edged out 73 decliners while 57 stocks were unchanged.

Month- and quarter-end windrow dressing activities also aided large-cap stocks.

Investors picked up shares of DMCI and Aboitiz Power, which both rose by more than 3 percent. Yesterday, it was reported that the Supreme Court had allowed DMCI to continue its controversial Torre de Manila residential project, which critics said was destroying the panoramic view behind the Rizal monument in Luneta.