PSEi ends at new high

The local stock barometer surged to a new record finish past 8,500 on Monday as investors took their cue from upbeat sentiment in Wall Street while a corporate restructuring deal at conglomerate San Miguel Corp. excited the market.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index racked up 146.94 points or 1.75 percent to close at its best-ever finish of 8,523.07.

All counters traded higher, led by the holding firms which rose by 2.45 percent. On the other hand, the industrial and services counters both gained over 1 percent.

The financial and mining/oil counters also firmed up.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.287 billion.

“Philippine stocks bounced back from the slump after U.S. stocks closed at records on Friday, with major indexes extending their lengthy upward moves on the back of strong results at Apple, which offset a mixed set of economic data, including a weaker October jobs report,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at local brokerage house Regina Capital Development.

There were 105 advancers that edged out 95 decliners while 41 stocks were unchanged.

Joseph Roxas, president of Eagle Equities Inc., said the index was perked up by SMC’s gains after announcing a plan to consolidate its traditional businesses.

Investors picked up shares of SMC, which rose by 5.43 percent, after announcing the spin-off of its food and beverage businesses into subsidiary Pure Foods, which sizzled with its 50-percent gain.

JG Summit also gained by 4.05 percent.

SM Investments rose by 3.21 percent while Ayala Land and BPI both advanced by over 2 percent.

Meralco, Metrobank, Megaworld and Ayala Corp. all rose by over 1 percent while BDO and Metro Pacific also firmed up.

Aside from Pure Foods, other notable gainers outside the PSEi included Italpinas, which rose by 26.14 percent on expectation of good third quarter earnings.

Harbor Star also rose by 10.95 percent while Bloomberry gained 2.63 percent.

On the other hand, GT Capital fell by 1 percent while SM Prime slipped by 0.94 percent after announcing its nine-month results.

Manila Water fell by 0.81 percent.

“This week will be dominated by headlines surrounding (US President Donald) Trump’s tour of Asia, but in the background earnings continue to deserve attention,” Limlingan said.

In the Philippines, he noted that the inflation data will be out on Nov 7, followed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ policy-setting meeting on Nov. 9, and exports/imports data release on Nov 10.