PH stocks inch closer to 8,000

The local stock barometer moved closer to the 8,000 mark on Thursday as foreign funds renewed their faith in local blue chips after an exodus last year.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 65.56 points or 0.83 percent to close at 7,985.23, driven by around P1.5 billion in net foreign buying.

“Basket buying from foreign funds is pushing the index at overbought levels.  (We’re) anticipating a breather in the near term that will drag the index toward trendline support at 7,760,” local stock brokerage Papa Securities said in a research note.

With the market’s clear breakout from the 7,940 barrier, Papa Securities said the next target would be 8,100 to 8,200.

Except for the mining/oil counter, all other counters ended higher.

The day’s upswing was led by the financial and services counters, which both rose by over 1 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P10.11 billion.  There were 109 advancers that edged out 82 decliners, while 51 stocks were unchanged.

Security Bank, AGI and PLDT led the PSEi higher.  All of them rose by over 4 percent.

Metro Pacific gained 3.8 percent, while URC added 2.14 percent.

SM Prime, BPI and San Miguel all advanced by over 1 percent.

BDO, ICTSI, Metrobank, AEV and Megaworld also firmed up.

One notable gainer outside the PSEi was Megawide Construction, which added 1.23 percent.

On the other hand, SM Investments and Jollibee fell by over 1 percent, while Puregold also dipped.