PSEi returns to 8,000 level

The local stock barometer regained momentum on Wednesday, climbing back to the 8,000 level and marking a new high for this year on strong risk appetite among foreign funds across regional markets.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index advanced by 49.2 points or 0.62 percent to close at a new 10-month high of 8,002.32. The local bourse has now risen by 17 percent since the start of the year.

All counters ended higher but the biggest gainer was the property counter, which surged by 1.34 percent.

The market was buoyed by about P849.99 million in net foreign buying. Value turnover for the day amounted to P10.31 billion. There were 120 advancers that edged out 86 decliners while 42 stocks were unchanged.

“Across the region, there’s a lot of buying by foreign sources. Regional currencies are improving so in effect, they are trying to convert their dollars back to pesos and other regional currencies,” said Manny Cruz, chief strategist at Asiasec Equities Inc.

Cruz said the Philippines was even “behind the curve” as far as share of foreign inflows was concerned, which meant that these inflows could further improve.

“For the Philippine side, what’s keeping the market upbeat is the tax reform program which is expected to be signed before the end of the year,” Cruz said.

Before going into their session break, the House of Representatives recently passed the tax reform program certified as urgent by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. As all eyes are now on the Senate, which will begin deliberations on the package starting July 24. Economists are optimistic that the Upper House will further finetune the package to be closer to the package supported by the Department of Finance.

Cruz said the PSEi would need to break 8,050, after which it would likely muster enough strength to breach 8,100.

The PSEi’s all time high level was at 8,127.48 that was hit on April 10, 2015.

Investors loaded up on shares of Ayala Land, SM Investments Corp. and AGI which all advanced by over 3 percent while PLDT, Globe and BPI all went up by over 1 percent.

In the case of BPI, Cruz said the market shrugged off the reported internal data error. “The market sees it as technical glitch,” he said, adding that prospects were generally bullish on the banking sector.

SM Prime, Semirara, URC and BDO also gained during the day.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P10.31 billion. There were 120 advancers that edged out 86 decliners while 42 stocks were unchanged.

Outside of the PSEi, the notable gainers were CLI (+4.04 percent) and IMI (+5.14 percent).

On the other hand, GT Capital, AEV and JG Summit all declined by over 2 percent while Ayala Corp. and MPI fell by 2.36 percent and 0.97 percent, respectively.