The local stock barometer advanced closer to the 6,000 level on Friday, driven by selective buying of large-cap stocks.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 65.57 points or 1.11 percent to close at 5,967.96, as domestic investors made up for sluggish foreign investor appetite.
“Local shares closed higher as investor hopes for a further recovery took precedence over weak [US] labor market data and a lack of progress on another fiscal stimulus bill in Washington,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.
For the week, the index gained a total of 182.87 points or 3.2 percent as investors welcomed news about the slowing coronavirus infection rate in the country.
Meanwhile, Limlingan cited reports about AstraZeneca Plc’s projection that its vaccine could still be ready by year-end while China’s vaccine front-runner had said none of the recipients of its two shots reported an obvious adverse reaction.
The PSEi was led higher by the holding firm and services counters, which both gained over 1 percent.
The industrial and property counters both added less than 1 percent.
On the other hand, the financial and mining/oil counters slipped.
Value turnover was thin at P4.18 billion. There was P527.02 million worth of net foreign selling for the day.
Despite the PSEi’s gain, there were 92 decliners that outnumbered 90 advancers, while 51 stocks were unchanged.
Investors snapped up shares of leading conglomerate SM Investments, which gained 2.84 percent. The Sy family-led conglomerate was the day’s most actively traded company.
PLDT likewise rose by 2.56 percent, while Ayala Land, ICTSI and URC all rose by over 1 percent.
Puregold, SM Prime, Metrobank, Security Bank, GT Capital and Meralco all firmed up.
Outside of the PSEi, one notable gainer was PNB, which surged by 4.37 percent for a second trading session after announcing a new program to unlock values from its real estate assets.
AC Energy also added 1.92 percent, while Dito rose by 0.88 percent.
Meanwhile, BDO, AGI, BPI and Jollibee all lost less than 1 percent. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA