PSE index posts new record high, closes short of 9,000

The local stock barometer resumed its trek to uncharted territory on Thursday but failed anew to breach a strong barrier at 9,000.

After a sluggish start, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) picked up pace in afternoon trade to end the session with a gain of 78.94 points or 0.89 percent. It closed at a new record high of 8,999.17, which also marked a new intraday peak.

With the local financial market teeming with liquidity, Wednesday’s pullback only opened a window of opportunity for those seeking to reenter the market at lower prices. Some investors are also positioning ahead of the first quarter local corporate earnings reporting season.

All counters ended higher, led by the mining/oil counter which surged by 4 percent.

The holding firm and services counters both added over 1 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P8.88 billion. There were 116 advancers that edged out 105 decliners while 41 stocks were unchanged.

Foreign investors contributed to the upswing.

Net foreign buying for the day stood at P119.62 million.

LTG led the PSEi higher with its 5.78-percent gain, rebounding from the sell-off on Wednesday.

RLC and Jollibee both advanced by over 3 percent. RLC is embarking on a P20-billion stock rights offering by next week.

Ayala Land, SM Investments and Metrobank all added over 1 percent.

GT Capital and Megaworld also firmed up.

Investors also scouted for buying opportunities outside PSEi stocks.

Integrated gaming firm Bloomberry surged by 8.09 percent while aspiring third telecom player Now Corp. advanced by 5.46 percent.

Wilcon Depot and Megawide Construction both added over 3 percent.

On the other hand, the PSEi’s gain was tempered by the decline of SM Prime and AGI, which both slipped by over 1 percent.

BDO, Ayala Corp., BPI and URC also declined.