The local stock barometer rebounded on Friday as the two-day bloodbath on companies with exposure to beleaguered water concessionaires attracted some bargain-hunters.
Manila Water, one of the concessionaires that got into the nerves of President Duterte, remained in the doldrums, losing 9.24 percent on Friday. However, it is not part of the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi).
The PSEi recouped 136.56 points or 1.76 percent to close on Friday at 7,877.63.
For the week, it gained a total of 75.91 points or nearly 1 percent.
All counters ended higher on Friday, led by the property counter, which rose by 2.85 percent.
The industrial, holding firm, services and mining/oil counters all added over 1 percent.
There were 123 advancers that overwhelmed 61 decliners, while 55 stocks were unchanged.
Value turnover amounted to P7.488 billion. There was net foreign buying of P309.55 million for the day.
There was some bargain-hunting on companies that suffered from sell-offs in recent days, especially when the government announced that it would void the 15-year extension of the Manila Water and Maynilad Water franchise beyond 2022, when the original 25-year concessions end.
Maynilad controlling stockholder Metro Pacific rebounded by 11.9 percent on Friday, while its partner, DMCI rose by 9.9 percent.
Metro Pacific closed at P3.01 per share, however still a far cry from its closing rate of P4.37 on Dec. 2 or before Mr. Duterte’s rants against the water concessionaires started.