The unified PSE trading floor in BGC
The local stock barometer bounced back to the 8,100 level on Thursday as the recent sell-offs emboldened institutional investors to scout for bargains among large-cap stocks.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recouped 215.38 points or 2.72 percent to close at 8,124.45.
Bargain-hunters emerged after the PSEi broke down the support level at 8,000 on Wednesday. The PSEi bottomed out in the previous session at 7,909.07.
Joseph Roxas, president of Eagle Equities, said institutional investors were back buying blue chip stocks as recent price declines had made them more attractive.
Local stocks also rebounded ahead of a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s monetary policy setting where interest rates were kept steady, as expected by market consensus. On the other hand, the US Federal Reserve raised its targeted rates by 25 basis points.
“It’s not isolated to the Philippines,” PSE president Ramon Monzon said, referring to the volatility in the stock market. “It’s also good to have consolidation.”
The PSEi was led higher by the property counter, which rose by 4.3 percent, while holding firms and mining/oil counter likewise added over 2 percent.
The financial, industrial and services counters also gained over 1 percent.
Value turnover for the day stood at P8.37 billion. There was net foreign selling amounting to P180 million, which meant that domestic investors powered the day’s rebound.
There were 122 advancers that edged out 75 decliners while 47 stocks were unchanged.
Investors picked up shares of blue chips Ayala Land and SM Investments, which both rose by over 5 percent, while SM Prime, PLDT and Aboitiz Power all gained over 4 percent.
Ayala Corp., BPI and JG Summit all advanced by over 2 percent, while BDO, Meralco, URC and AEV all added over 1 percent.
Metrobank and Jollibee also contributed to the day’s gains.
On the other hand, ICTSI, GT Capital and MPI all slipped.
Outside of the PSEi, there was profit-taking on PXP Energy, which slumped by 2.54 percent.