Stock price index resumes climb

The local stock barometer resumed its upswing yesterday, ending at a new record high on selective buying of large-cap stocks as domestic investors teemed with liquidity and optimism.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 56.5 points or 0.68 percent to close at its best ever finish of 8,367.38. The main index beat its last record close of 8,344.05 on Oct. 4.

“Philippine markets started on a positive note with US markets being closed later due to a holiday,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.

While the index is hitting new highs, Limlingan said technical indicators were already showing some weakness.

“The ADX (average directional index), which lies in the lower level, shows that the upward trend is not strong enough to continue. The declining momentum is also visible from the RSI (relative strength index) and MFI (money flow index), which are pointing downwards,” Limlingan said. In technical analysis, ADX is used to determine when price is trending strongly or when the trend is your friend while RSI is a momentum indicator used to identify overbought or oversold conditions. MFI is an oscillator that uses both price and volume to measure buying and selling pressure.

The PSEi was boosted by the holding firm counter, which gained 1.27 percent, while the financial, mining/oil and property counters also firmed up.

The industrial and services counters, on the other hand, slipped.

Value turnover for the day was relatively thin at P6.1 billion.

Domestic investors powered the PSEi’s record finish while foreign investors took advantage of lofty valuations to pocket gains, resulting in a net foreign selling position of P248.98 million.

Despite the PSEi’s rise, market breadth was negative as there were 104 decliners that outnumbered 82 advancers while 59 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was led higher by conglomerates Ayala Corp. and LTG, which both gained more than 2 percent, while SMC added 1 percent. Ayala Land, SM Investments, SM Prime and BDO also gained.

Several non-PSEi stocks were actively traded, including PXP Energy, which surged by 9.9 percent still on the back of speculation on an exploration deal with China.