PSEi shoots past 6,200, highest since March

The local stock barometer surged to the 6,200 mark on Wednesday, hitting its highest level since the number of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases began to rise in the country in March, as investors welcomed the reopening of Metro Manila to business.

Extending its winning streak for the fifth straight session despite overbought signals, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) racked up another 220.48 points or 3.66 percent to close at 6,245.65.

Jonathan Ravelas, chief strategist at BDO Unibank, said the positive sentiment was boosted by the reopening of the economy as the National Capital Region shifted to general community quarantine (GCQ), which relaxed lockdown protocols. He added the recent Philippine purchasing managers’ index (PMI) also turned out better than previously recorded.

While the local manufactu­ring gauge declined for a third straight month in May, the index showed an improvement to 40.1 from a record low of 31.6 in April, according to London-based global information provider IHS Markit Ltd.

“This is a signal of the restart. Also, the positive sentiments from Wall Street helped improve the sentiment,” Ravelas said.

“A sustained move above 6,100 could signal the rally still has some gas,” Ravelas said, adding that the next barrier to test would be 6,500.

Joseph Roxas, president of Eagle Equities, also said 6,500 would be the next PSEi resistance, but noted that there may be a pullback on Thursday or Friday. He said the market has reached “overbought” levels while foreigners have reverted to net selling.

After several days of net buying, there was net foreign selling of P329.35 million for the day. Value turnover amounted to P8.24 billion.

All counters rose but the gains were led by the property and financial counters, which both surged by over 5 percent. These are the sectors which closely track economic cycles.

The holding firm counter likewise added 2.94 percent while the mining/oil sub-index added 2.17 percent.

The industrial and services counters went up by 1.65 percent and 1.98 percent, respectively.

There were 143 advancers that edged out 59 decliners, while 44 stocks were unchanged.

Investors loaded up on shares of JG Summit and Ayala Land, which surged by 9.27 percent and 8.11 percent, respectively.

BPI and ICTSI both rose by over 6 percent, while Security Bank and Jollibee added over 5 percent.

BDO and Megaworld added over 4 percent. GT Capital, the day’s most actively traded company, rose by 3.77 percent.

Metrobank gained 3.28 percent, while Puregold added 2.71 percent.

One notable gainer outside the PSEi was RCBC, which surged by 25.45 percent after a cross transaction. “Maybe people think there’s a play that’s going to happen,” one stock trader said.

Meanwhile, SM Investments, Globe Telecom, PLDT and URC all slipped by less than 1 percent. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABA­DILLA