PSEi up as market tracks regional uptrend

The local stock barometer climbed to the 7,900 level on Wednesday as a stream of strong US corporate earnings report brought good tidings to regional markets.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) racked up 105.49 points, or 1.35 percent, to close at 7,939.24, tracking upbeat regional markets.

Local stockbrokerage Papa Securities said technical readings were starting to be attractive for the PSEi. Coupled with how US markets firmed up on Tuesday night, the brokerage said this was leading to a short-term bounce.

Any downside for the PSEi could be a reason to enter for the potential bounce, Papa Securities said.

On Wednesday, the local market was buoyed by the industrial counter, which rose by 2.01 percent, while the holding firm, mining/oil and property counters all added more than 1 percent.

Only the services counter ended slightly lower.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.79 billion. There was a modest net foreign buying of P88.43 million during the day.

There were 122 advancers that edged out 88 decliners, while 42 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was led higher by URC, which rose by 4.27 percent, while SM Prime gained 3.32 percent.

Ayala Land and Alliance Global Group firmed up by more than 2 percent while ICTSI, SM Investments, Puregold and JG Summit all rose by more than 1 percent.

BDO, Ayala Corp., Jollibee, BPI, SMC and Globe Telecom also contributed modest gains.

Outside of the PSEi, notable gainers included Petron (+4.11 percent) and Megawide (+2.26 percent).

Meanwhile, PLDT and RLC both lost more than 2 percent, while Metrobank slightly declined.

One notable decliner outside the PSEi was Vista Land, which lost 2.93 percent. There was a speculative play on this property developer last week.