PSEi moves closer to 52-week high

The local stock barometer pierced through the 8,100 mark for the first time in five months on Friday as the local inflation rate resumed its deceleration.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 53.02 points or 0.66 percent to close at 8,117.94 on the back of selective buying of large-cap stocks.

For the week, the PSEi gained a total of 118.23 points or 1.5 percent.  The index is now moving closer to its 52-week high of 8,213.71.

It was reported on Friday that the Philippines’ year-on-year June inflation eased to 2.7 percent in June, the slowest pace seen since 2017. This was also lower than the market consensus of 2.8 percent for the period.

“The June print helps year-to-date inflation settle at 3.4 percent and remains another indication that inflation remains well behaved enough with (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) BSP’s 2019 forecast of 2.7 percent inflation now looking more probable,” said ING Philippines economist Nicholas Mapa.

Elsewhere in the region, trading sentiment was mixed ahead of the upcoming US jobs data.

The market was buoyed by the financial, industrial, holding firm and property counters.

On the other hand, the service and mining/oil counters declined.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P5.49 billion.  There was a modest net foreign selling of P35.37 million for the day.

Despite the PSEi’s gain, market breadth was negative. There were 116 decliners that edged out 80 advancers, while 53 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was lifted by URC, which rose by 2.33 percent, while Ayala Land, BDO, Ayala Corp. and RLC all added over 1 percent.

Security bank, SM Prime, AEV and LTG also gained.

One notable gainer outside the PSEi was FPH, which rose by 3.97 percent.  This company announced an additional budget of P5 billion for a stock buyback program.

On the other hand, Metrobank, First Gen, BPI and Jollibee all declined.

Outside the PSEi, the notable decliners were Phinma Energy (-6.78 percent) and Abacore (-2.86 percent).