PSEi continues to rise

The local stock barometer gained for the fifth straight session on Monday, defying the downturn seen across the region, as foreign funds flowed back to local equities.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) racked up 71.94 points or 0.93 percent to close at 7,773.32 as the market saw net foreign inflows for the fourth trading day.

The PSEi was led higher by the holding firm and services counters, which both added more than 1 percent. The industrial, mining/oil and property counters also firmed up. Only the financial counter ended lower (-1.07 percent).

Value turnover for the day amounted to P5.6 billion. There was P511.35 million in net foreign buying.

This is so far the longest net foreign buying streak seen by the PSE since January, local stockbrokerage Papa Securities said.

“A caveat for those wanting to enter, the PSEi is already heavily overbought in terms of stochastic so profit-taking may already be in the minds of a lot of participants,” the brokerage said on Monday.

The PSEi’s target resistance based on Elliot wave analysis would be between 8,000 and 8,255, Papa Securities said.

There were 98 advancers that edged out 91 decliners while 57 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was led higher by ICTSI and AEV, which both surged by more than 5 percent. URC and Metro Pacific both gained over 3 percent, while Ayala Corp., Ayala Land and GT Capital all advanced by more than 2 percent. AGI added 1.68 percent, while SM Investments, JG Summit and Meralco also firmed up.

Outside of PSEi stocks, one notable gainer was ATN, which rallied by 9.3 percent in relatively heavy volume.