Optimism back as market begins ascent to 7,400

The stock barometer started the week on an upbeat mode, flirting with the 7,400-mark in intraday trade, as investor optimism improved against the backdrop of softening oil prices.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 57.69 points, or 0.79 percent to close on Monday at 7,397.87, rising for the third straight session.

The PSEi hit as high as 7,428.29 before paring gains at close, driven mostly by domestic investors.

Elsewhere in the region, stock markets were mostly upbeat.

Local stock brokerage Papa Securities said the PSEi’s next resistance levels would likely be at the 7,430 to 7,480 area.

The appreciation of the peso against the US dollar since October is also seen favoring local equities.

“Something to look forward to this week is the G20 summit where [US President Donald] Trump and [China President] Xi Jinping are expected to meet. All eyes [are] on potential tariff developments there,” Papa Securities said.

After three days of net foreign buying, the market saw net foreign selling amounting to P631.89 million on Monday.

Mining/oil led the PSEi higher, rising by 3.35 percent. The holding firm and services counters also advanced by over 1 percent.

The cyclical counters financials and property subindices also both firmed up.

Total value turnover for the day amounted to P6.88 billion.

There were 106 advancers that edged out 74 decliners, while 50 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was led higher by international port operator ICTSI, which surged by 3.76 percent as the company announced the buyback of as much as 30 million shares from the market. It was the most actively traded company for the day.

Metrobank also gained 2.98 percent and was the day’s second most actively traded company.

SM Prime likewise gained, by 2.23 percent, while JG Summit added 1.27 percent.

Ayala Corp., SM Investments, AGI and Security Bank also firmed up.

On the other hand, PLDT, GT Capital and Jollibee slipped alongside BPI, Puregold, URC and Meralco.