PH stocks rebound to 7,900, buoyed by upbeat trading on Wall St

The local stock barometer rebounded to the 7,900 level on Thursday as investors drew strength from upbeat trading on Wall Street overnight.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recouped 62.5 points or 0.8 percent to close at 7,927.20, buoyed by large foreign inflows.

The rebound was led by the property counter, which rose by 3.28 percent.

The financial, holding firm and mining/oil counters also gained, while the industrial and services counters slipped.

Value turnover was heavy at P14.16 billion, bloated by a block sale on retailer Puregold, which raised P4.69 billion from an equity placement.

There was P3.84 billion in net foreign inflow to the local market for the day.

There were 101 advancers that edged out 99 decliners while 51 stocks were unchanged.

The day’s top gainer was Ayala Land Inc., which rose by 4.41 percent.

SM Prime rebounded by 3.51 percent after the previous session’s selldown arising from concerns on whether its massive Manila Bay reclamation project would push through.

AGI also racked up 4.33 percent while Megaworld and Globe Telecom both added over 2 percent.

Metrobank, BDO, PLDT, Jollibee and GT Capital all gained over 1 percent.

Conglomerates Ayala Corp. and JG Summit slightly gained.  On the previous day, Ayala tumbled when Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi sold 13 million shares at a discounted price of P900 per share.

Notable gainers outside the PSEi include San Miguel Food and Beverage, which rose by 2.82 percent.

On the other hand, Puregold fell by 4.97 percent following a top-up placement at a discount to market price.

URC, Meralco and Metro Pacific all declined by over 2 percent while BPI lost 1.59 percent.

SM Investments and ICTSI also slipped. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA