PH stocks extend rally, surge back to 8,000

The local stock barometer climbed back to the 8,000 level on Friday as investors welcomed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) cautious stance on monetary setting.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) racked up 58.7 points, or 0.74 percent, to close at 8,013.42, tracking the upbeat sentiment on Wall Street overnight.

For the week, the PSEi gained a total of 215.14 points, or 2.75 percent.

On Thursday, the BSP decided to keep monetary settings unchanged.

This neutral stance boosted the peso, which appreciated to 52.32 on Friday from Thursday’s finish of 52.84 against the US dollar.

“I think the stock market likes that. It’s difficult if the BSP is all too dovish as the foreign exchange will suffer. This shows that they are careful with their decisions,” said Joseph Roxas, president of Eagle Equities Inc.

“Tech-wise, the PSEi seems to now be moving on an uptrend after it finally broke through the significant 7,900 level,” local stock brokerage Papa Securities said.

With relative strength index still on an uptrend and not yet at the overbought level, Papa Securities said the 8,000 could easily be conquered.

The index was led higher by services, which rose by 1 percent.

The financial, industrial, holding firm and property counters all firmed up.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.6 billion.

There was P1.45 billion in net foreign buying for the day.

There were 116 advancers that edged out 77 decliners, while 50 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was led higher by AGI, which surged by 3.3 percent.

ICTSI, URC and Meralco all rose by over 2 percent.

Megaworld, Metro Pacific, Metrobank and GT Capital all added over 1 percent.

Ayala Land, Ayala Corp., SM Prime, BDO, SM Investments and DMCI all firmed up.

One notable gainer outside the PSEi was Phinma Energy, which gained 2.99 percent.