The local stock barometer firmed up above 7,900 on Wednesday, bucking a regional downturn ahead of a closely watched local monetary policy setting.
Reversing early losses, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 16.06 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 7,926.69 on selective buying of large-cap stocks.
While this was a modest gain at close, the index managed to rebound after falling to as low as 7,754.95 in intraday trade. Elsewhere in the region, stock markets were mostly sluggish.
Locally, investors expect the inflation-targeting Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to take a dovish action during its policy meeting today (Thursday), especially since the inflation rate in April had come in lower than market consensus at 3 percent.
PNB economist Jun Trinidad said that with inflation downtrend intact despite El Niño risks and high global oil prices in the first quarter, the BSP might chose to slash the reserve requirement by 1-2 percentage points this May 9, prior to cutting the overnight borrowing rate by the second half of this year. This monetary easing is seen to address downside risks to growth in the very near term, including the disrupted fiscal stimulus caused by the delay in the passage of the 2019 budget.
The PSEi was shored up by the financial counter, which rose by 1.06 percent, while the holding firm counter gained 0.68 percent.
On the other hand, the mining/oil counter fell by 2.05 percent while services slumped by 1.22 percent. The industrial and property counters also slipped.
Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.12 billion. Despite the PSEi’s gain, market breadth was negative as there were 133 decliners that overwhelmed 63 advancers while 46 companies were unchanged.
The PSEI was perked up most by JG Summit, which added 3.54 percent, while BDO rose by 2.94 percent.
URC added 2.23 percent, while SM Investments firmed up by 1.79 percent. Ayala Land, Ayala Corp., Globe Telecom, Metrobank and BPI also rose.
On the other hand, the PSEi’s gains were tempered by the decline of Bloomberry, Megaworld and RRHI, which all lost more than 3 percent.
Bloomberry reported a 40-percent year-on-year drop in first-quarter net profit to P2.2 billion on slower high-roller business alongside smaller foreign exchange gains and higher interest expenses.
RRHI had also earlier reported a 32-percent year-on-year drop in first-quarter net profit to P827 million.
AGI fell by 2 percent while SM Prime, ICTSI and Metro Pacific all slipped by more than 1 percent.