PSEi recoups part of Wednesday losses but remains below 7,000

After the previous day’s bloodbath, the local stock barometer rebounded on Thursday but shied away from the 7,000 level.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recouped 58 points, or 0.84 percent, to close at 6,967.84 as investors picked up large-cap stocks that had taken a beating in the previous session.

Elsewhere around the world, equities markets traded with mixed results as the coronavirus contagion (COVID-19) continued to sow fears.

“COVID-19 virus is on the cusp of being a pandemic. Investors are starting to dismiss the possibility of a global economic recovery from easing US-China trade tensions as the virus remains out of control,” said Christopher Mangun, head of research at AAA Equities.

At the local market, Mangun noted that foreign selling continued, with P1.40 billion worth of net selling for the day.

“The PSEi is currently down 3.2 percent for the week despite [Thursday’s] gains. Markets across the globe remain weak and we expect our local bourse to reflect the same sentiment. We may see it continue lower in the medium term and lean against the 6,800 support,” he added.

The rebound was led by the cyclical financial and property counters, which both rose ‍by over 1 percent.

Except for the mining/oil counter, which slightly dipped, the rest of the subindices eked out modest gains.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P8.44 billion.

Despite the PSEi’s rise, market breadth was negative. There were 95 decliners that edged out 91 advancers while 45 stocks were unchanged.

Security Bank rebounded by 5.06 percent while Ayala Land and BDO both surged by over 4 percent. For its part, BDO announced that it had exceeded its 2019 profit target.

Global port terminal operator ICTSI rebounded by nearly 4 percent while Metro Pacific added 3.37 percent.

Ayala Corp., JG Summit and Meralco all added over 1 percent.Universal Robina, SM Investments and Globe Telecom all firmed up.

Outside of the PSEi, one notable gainer is ABS-CBN, which added 2.17 percent on rising expectation that Congress might now look favorably at its petition for franchise renewal following President Duterte’s acceptance of its public apology for failing to air his ads during the 2016 presidential campaign.

On the other hand, Met­robank fell by 3.13 percent while Megaworld slipped by 2.03 ‍percent.

BPI and AEV both lost over 1 percent, while SM Prime, Jollibee and PLDT all slipped.