Return of foreign investors lifts PSEi

The local stock barometer rebounded on Thursday as investors picked up other large-cap stocks while continuing to dump shares of fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recouped 110.69 points, or 1.36 percent, to close at 8,272.18 as foreign investors mostly resumed their buying position.

There was P124.46 million in net foreign buying for the day, compared to Wednesday’s net foreign selling of P542 million.

Jollibee, the day’s most actively traded company, fell by another 5.98 percent.  Its shares have fallen sharply in the past two days since announcing its $350-million takeover of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, which analysts expect to further gnaw on earnings even when it’s still digesting its acquisition of American hamburger chain Smashburger.

The main index started the day lower and then bounced back to outperform almost every major Asian market, said AAA Securities head of research Christopher Mangun.

“The main index was dragged down by the losses in JFC at the start of the trading session. However, last-minute gains on several blue chips allowed the PSEi to end much higher. Almost every blue chip other than JFC closed the day at its high,” he said.

“The PSEi was able to stay above its 20-day moving average which is extremely important. With the last day of trading (Friday), we may see it go either way. Trading volumes are still below average for the week, if we see it pick up (Friday), then we may see the index challenge resistance at 8,365,” he added.

Investors gobbled up shares of RLC and PLDT, which both gained over 3 percent, while BDO, SM Investments and Globe Telecom all added over 2 percent.

Ayala Corp., ICTSI, BPI and Ayala Land all added over 1 percent, while SM Prime, URC, Metrobank and Megaworld also gained.

One notable gainer outside the PSEi was Vista Land, which added 1.43 percent.

Meanwhile, LTG lost 3.32 percent while RRHI fell by 1.33 percent.