Bargain-hunting lifts market

The local stock barometer went on a roller-coaster ride on Friday, falling to the 7,400 levels in intra-day trading on continued foreign selling before rebounding at close.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recouped 119.18 points or 1.56 percent to close at 7,773.12.

The index hit as low as 7,469.41 but it closed at the intra-day high of 7,773.12.

Local bargain-hunters shored up the index as foreign investors were still net sellers. Net foreign selling yesterday amounted to P1.27 billion.

“The unabated foreign selling is due to risk-off sentiment, it seems,” said PNB Securities president Manuel Lisbona. This was despite tame interest rates and positive economic outlook for the country, he added.

The controversy over Metro Manila’s water concessionaires is seen to be part of the reason why foreign investors have turned cautious.

Lisbona noted that last-minute buying managed to lift the main index at close.

The PSEi was boosted Metrobank, which gained 5.43 percent, while JG Summit added 4.03 percent.

Conglomerates Ayala Corp. and GT Capital both advanced by over 3 percent. BPI added 3.82 percent while

SM Investments and SM Prime rose by nearly 3 percent.

Ayala Land and AGI both rose by over 1 percent, while BDO, PLDT, Globe Telecom and URC all firmed up.

On the other hand, Meralco tumbled by 8.09 percent, while parent conglomerate Metro Pacific lost 4.12 percent.

Security Bank and Megaworld both declined by over 2 percent, while Jollibee lost 1.39 percent. INQ