PSEi halts slide as investors go for large cap stocks

The stock barometer rebounded on Wednesday following a three-day slump as foreign funds sifted through the rubble of large cap stocks.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 69.74 points or 0.9 percent to close at 7,793.13 on selective buying of large cap stocks.

Papa Securities analyst Gio Perez said the market was forming a bullish front, noting the 146-point PSEi drop on Tuesday may have lacked momentum.

Optimism from the US markets after a strong first quarter corporate earnings season was seen to have spilled over to the local market.

“We now look forward to the (Philippine) GDP (gross domestic product) announcement on May 10 which may hit 7 percent, more so that government expenditure growth reached a two-year high of 36.86 percent in February 2018 and that March figures have been historically higher than February’s for the last few years,” Perez said.

The PSEi was led higher by the financial, industrial and property counters, which all gained over 1 percent. The holding firm counter also rose slightly.

On the other hand, the mining/oil counter fell by 1.35 percent, while the services counter slipped by 0.14 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.31 billion. There was net foreign buying of P443.24 million that supported the PSEi’s rebound.

Despite the PSEi’s rise, there were 107 decliners that outnumbered 103 advancers, while 40 stocks were unchanged.

Investors picked up shares of Ayala Land and BDO, which both rose by over 3 percent, while URC—the day’s most actively traded company—rose by 2.64 percent.

GT Capital, PLDT, Jollibee and RRHI all added over 1 percent.

Metro Pacific, SM Prime, SM Investments, Metrobank, Security Bank and JG Summit also firmed up.

Outside of PSEi, Vitarich surged by 24.75 percent on heavy volume. The agribusiness company, which is in the process of cleaning up its balance sheet, was the day’s second most actively traded stock.