PSEi rallies to 7,300 level, but market still seen technically weak

The local stock barometer rallied to the 7,300 level yesterday on the back of some foreign inflows amid expectations that the market may have found the bottom.

Gaining for the fourth straight session albeit still on thin trade, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) racked up 81.08 points or 1.12 percent to close at 7,348.42.

Joseph Roxas, president of Eagle Equities Inc., said the market was becoming numb to the string of bad news, which meant that a big rally may be starting.

It’s possible that the market had found a bottom, Roxas said.

“Some local money is coming back because there is good value out there,” said BDO Unibank chief strategist Jonathan Ravelas. “But it’s too early to say that this is a reversal because market is technically weak while geopolitical risks persist and the Philippine peso (exchange rate against the US dollar) continues to weaken.

The PSEi was led higher by the property, holding firm and services counters, which all surged by over 1 percent.

Only the mining/oil counter ended lower.

Value turnover was thin at P4.94 billion. There was net foreign buying amounting to P449.84 million.

Market breadth was neutral, as there was an equal number of advancers and decliners (100 each) while 56 stocks were unchanged.

Investors picked up shares of DMCI, which rose by 3.48 percent, while SM Prime, BDO and PLDT all added over 2 percent.

SM Investments, Ayala Corp., JG Summit, Megaworld and Security Bank all firmed up by over 1 percent.

Ayala Land, GT Capital, Meralco, Metro Pacific and AEV also gained.

One notable gainer outside the PSEi was Bloomberry, which added 4.41 percent.

On the other hand, Jollibee, Metrobank and BPI all slipped.

Outside the PSEi, one notable decliner was ISM, which slid by 5.97 percent.