The local stock barometer firmed up on Tuesday on selective buying of large-cap stocks led by Razon-led port operator ICTSI.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 38.82 points or 0.5 percent to close at 7,747.54, tracking mostly upbeat regional markets.
Local stock brokerage Papa Securities said regional indices were seeing a breather—although likely to be short-lived—driven by an overnight recovery of US markets.
The PSEi was lifted by the industrial and services counters, which both gained 1 percent. The financial and holding firm counters also rose slightly.
On the other hand, the property counter fell by 1.52 percent, while the mining/oil counter slipped by 0.66 percent.
Total value turnover was thin at P5.7 billion. Domestic investors mostly fueled the day’s rebound as there was net foreign selling worth P348.84 million.
Despite the PSEi’s gain, market breadth was negative. There were 108 decliners that edged out 83 advancers, while 56 stocks were unchanged.
ICTSI gained 4.39 percent on talks of a possible resolution of a port congestion in Manila. It was also the most actively traded company for the day.
Aboitiz Power racked up 3.86 percent while SM Investments and PLDT both rose by over 2 percent.
AEV, BDO and BPI all advanced by over 1 percent.
Notable gainers outside the PSEi included Wilcon, which added 2.75 percent
Meanwhile, property giant SM Prime lost 3.42 percent.