PH stocks track regional equities higher

The local stock barometer firmed up for the fourth session in a row in thin trade on Monday, as investors gauged recent progress of US-China trade talks.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 34.35 points or 0.44 percent to close at 7,884.29, tracking mostly upbeat markets in the region.

“Asian equities markets ended higher (Monday) on continued optimism from the ‘phase 1 deal’ last Friday. The US has agreed to suspend tariffs that were supposed to go into effect on Oct. 15. The gains came despite disappointing import and export data from China due to the trade war,” AAA Equities head of research Christopher Mangun said.

More than half of Monday’s trade was done by foreign investors with net buying at a measly P68 million, Mangun noted.

“The PSEi ended higher on very low volumes which tells us buyers are in control for now. The question is how long this can go on. It has been inching toward the key 8,000 level and based on the last few months, sellers have been in control every time the index has traded above this level. In the meantime, retail investors have come back and are trading second-liners and speculative issues that are at strong support levels,” Mangun said.

Except for the mining/oil counter, all sub-indices ended higher.

Value turnover for the day was thin at P3.76 billion.

There were 96 advancers that edged out 74 decliners, while 71 stocks were unchanged.

Megaworld led the PSEi higher with its 3.03-percent gain, while AGI and Metro Pacific both rose by over 2 percent.

SM Prime, Jollibee and Globe Telecom all added over 1 percent.

Ayala Corp., Ayala Land, BPI, ICTSI, Metrobank, BDO and GT Capital also firmed up.

Among the notable gainers outside the PSEi was Kepwealth, which surged by 6.14 percent.

On the other hand, RRHI and DMCI both lost over 2 percent.

Outside the PSEi, newly listed Axelum slipped by 0.67 percent.