PH shares eke slight gain on selective buying of blue chips

The local stock barometer gained slightly on Thursday on selective buying of large-cap stocks, mostly by domestic investors.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 14.49 points or 0.18 percent to close at 7,959.86.

Elsewhere in the region, trading sentiment was mixed following a deadlock on US-Mexico trade talks.

The PSEi was shored up by modest gains of the financial, holding firm, services and mining/oil counters.

On the other hand, the industrial and property counters slipped.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.34 billion.

Local investors made up for the slack in foreign appetite. There was P425.3 million in net foreign selling for the day.

Market breadth was neutral. There were 98 advancers, the same as the number of decliners. Stock prices of 49 companies were unchanged.

First Gen contributed to the PSEi’s gain, rising by 2.13 percent.

Security Bank and BPI both gained over 1 percent, while Ayala Corp., SM Prime, BDO, SM Investments, ICTSI and JG Summit also contributed gains.

Notable gainers outside the PSEi included Phinma Energy (+2.83 percent) and Filinvest Land (+1.71 percent), which were both among the 20 most actively traded companies.

On the other hand, PLDT, Metro Pacific and AGI all declined by over 1 percent, while Ayala Land, Jollibee, Metrobank and Globe Telecom also slipped.

On Wednesday, a nonworking holiday, it was reported that the Philippine year-on-year inflation in May was surprisingly higher at 3.2 percent from 3 percent in April, picking up pace for the first time after a six-month deceleration.