PH stocks recover as regional markets firm up

The local stock barometer firmed up slightly on Friday, tracking mostly firmer regional markets, as investors closed their books for the quarter.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index added 15.39 points or 0.19 percent to close at 8,171.43.

For the week, the PSEi lost a total of 109.84 points or 1.33 percent as investors pocketed gains from the recent rally to new highs.

Value turnover for the day was extraordinarily high at P73.83 billion, bloated by the P64.52-billion block sale on geothermal firm EDC, which recently took in a new shareholder group that made a tender offer to minority shareholders.

There were 131 advancers that edged out 77 decliners while 48 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi’s modest gain was buoyed by the industrial and services counters, which both advanced by over 1 percent. The property counter was also slightly up.

On the other hand, the financial, holding firm and mining/oil counters slipped.

The PSEi’s rise was led by PLDT, which advanced by 3.8 percent, while Meralco and Metro Pacific both added over 2 percent.

SM Investments and Megaworld both gained over 1 percent while Ayala Land, BDO, ICTSI, Jollibee and AGI also firmed up.

On the other hand, Security Bank fell by 2.33 percent while SM Prime and GT Capital both declined by over 1 percent.

EDC, Ayala Corp. and Metrobank also slipped.

PXP fell by 3.23 percent after earlier sizzling on speculation of an oil exploration deal with China.