Stocks continue rise on local buying

The local stock barometer resumed its trek north of the 8,000 barrier on Monday as the US-China trade truce brought good tidings to regional markets.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 44 points or 0.55 percent to close at 8,043.71.

Manuel Lisbona, president of PNB Securities, had been expecting the main index to bounce past the 8,000 mark this week “on what seems to be positive developments between the US and China over the weekend.”

US President Donald Trump had agreed to refrain from imposing any more tariffs on Chinese goods and likewise to allow US companies to resume doing business with Chinese tech giant Huawei.

The PSEi was led higher by the property counter, which surged by 1.68 percent.

Except for services, all counters also made modest gains.

Value turnover for the day was thin at P5.3 billion. Domestic investors mostly supported the market as there was P234.13 million in net foreign selling for the day.

There were 98 advancers, which were slightly outnumbered by 99 decliners, while 57 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was led higher by property giant SM Prime, which rose by 2.43 percent.

Ayala Land, RRHI, Metrobank, SM Investments and Megaworld all added more than 1 percent.

First Gen, Ayala Corp., BPI, Metro Pacific and Jollibee also firmed up.

One notable gainer outside the PSEi was Premier Horizon, which surged by 9.64 percent.

Century Properties Group also firmed up by 3.28 percent. The group is diversifying to new residential projects with faster construction completion time.

Filinvest Land also rose by 1.06 percent.

On the other hand, telecom firms Globe Telecom and PLDT both fell by more than 1 percent. A competitor in the broadband business, Converge ICT, has obtained a $250-million equity infusion from American private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

BDO, the day’s most actively traded company, shed 0.36 percent. Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah has unloaded its 2-percent stake in the local banking giant.

Abacore Capitala and Phinma Energy also pulled back by 4.76 percent and 3.92 percent, respectively.