Upbeat mood in the region lifts PH stocks; index firms up above 7,800
The local stock barometer firmed up above the 7,800 mark on Tuesday in line with mostly upbeat regional markets.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 38.48 points or 0.49 percent to close at 7,826.46, ending a three-day downturn.
Stock dealers said apart from the regional upswing, investors were also relieved that the national budget for 2019 was finally signed into law after months of delay.
The local market was led higher by the mining/oil counter, which added 2.59 percent, while the property counter rose by 1.52 percent. The holding firm counter also slightly gained.
On the other hand, the financial, industrial and services counters all slipped.
Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.14 billion.
The market was lifted by about P365 million in net foreign buying.
There were 107 decliners that edged out 85 advancers while 42 stocks were unchanged.
The PSEi was shored up by PLDT, which rose by 3.02 percent, while SM Prime and Semirara both gained over 2 percent.
Ayala Land, SM Investments and Bloomberry all rose by over 1 percent, while BPI, GT Capital, Megaworld and URC all firmed up.
On the other hand, the PSEi’s gains were curbed by the decline of Puregold, which lost 4.35 percent.
AGI fell by 2.14 percent while Jollibee and BDO both lost over 1 percent.
Ayala Corp. and ICTSI both slipped.
Notable decliners outside the PSEi for the day were Phinma Energy and PNB, which, respectively, slid by 7.93 percent and 5.05 percent.
