PH shares firm up; investors seek fresh catalysts

The local stock barometer firmed up slightly on Thursday as investors waited for fresh leads from the second quarter corporate earnings season.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 4.01 points or 0.05 percent to close at 7,876.66. Across the region, stock markets were mostly sluggish.

“Philippine shares traded on a lackluster note as investors continue to digest earnings and stay on the sidelines as evidenced by reduced trading volumes,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at local stock brokerage Regina Capital Development.

The financial, industrial, services and property counters firmed up while the holding firm and mining/oil counters slipped.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P5.74 billion. There were 114 decliners that edged out 83 advancers while 54 stocks were unchanged.

There was net foreign buying amounting to P135.67 million for the day.

Meralco rose by 2.19 percent while Megaworld went up by 1.7 percent.

BDO, AC, Semirara, SM Investments and PLDT also firmed up.

Outside of the PSEi, notable gainers included DoubleDragon (+8.44 percent) and GERI (4.43 percent).

On the other hand, JG Summit fell by 2.06 percent while Metrobank and GT Capital slipped by over 1 percent.

SM Prime, Ayala Land, URC, Jollibee and AGI all declined.

Notable non-PSEi decliners included Bloomberry (-3.19 percent) and Cemex (-1.32 percent).