PSE index settles at 6,300 mark

The local stock barometer stabilized at the 6,300 mark on Tuesday on selective buying of oversold large-cap stocks after the previous session’s bloodbath.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added a marginal 5.77 points or 0.09 percent to close at 6,318.38.

Domestic hands supported the market while foreigners remained net sellers to the tune of P835 million.

With the breakdown of the 6,700 and 6,500 support levels due to the COVID-19 scare, BDO Unibank chief strategist Jonathan Ravelas said the 6,000 levels were now at risk.

Papa Securities said the 6,000 support level would likely be strong, based on the PSEi’s monthly chart which showed that all instances of oversold relative strength index since 1997 were always followed by a bounce.

The local market was singlehandedly shored up by the financial counter, which gained 5 percent. All other sub-indices declined.

Value turnover for the day amounted to about P7.36 billion.

Despite the PSEi’s gain, market breadth was still negative. There were 136 decliners that edged out 74 advancers, while 36 stocks were unchanged. On Monday, about P663 billion worth of wealth was wiped out from the local stock market as COVID-19 and global recession fears triggered panic-selling.

On Tuesday, investors picked up shares of BDO and BPI, which rebounded by 6.11 percent and 6.72 percent, respectively. The two other banks that are part of the PSEi, Metrobank and Security Bank, also rose by 3.89 percent and 4.67 percent, respectively.

Banks are seen to benefit from sustained trading gains as the central bank may counter economic fallout from the coronavirus which is now spreading onshore.

ICTSI also rebounded by 3.37 percent, while Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific firmed up by less than 1 percent.

On the other hand, URC, Jollibee, JG Summit and Puregold all fell by over 3 percent.

SM Prime, Ayala Land, PLDT, Globe Telecom, Meralco and DMCI all lost over 1 percent.

SM Investments and AGI also slipped.

One notable decliner outside the PSEi was D&L Industries, which fell by 9.68 percent. This industrial firm serves many consumer-oriented firms which may be hit by the COVID-19 scare. INQ