PSEi recovers from 3-day decline, posts 1.19% gain

The local stock barometer firmed up on Friday after a three-day slump, bucking mostly sluggish regional markets, as domestic investors made up for foreign players’ sluggish appetite.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 74.61 points or 1.19 percent to close on Friday at 6,324.

For the week, the PSEi lost a total of 160.06 points or 2.5 percent from last week’s closing of 6,484.06.

“Philippine stock indices rebounded as US macro data showed a rebound in growth after the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.

The United States reported a 33.1-percent annualized gross domestic product growth in the third quarter, versus market consensus of 32 percent.

Local stock brokerage Papa Securities said it was important for the index to hold above 6,200 support on a technical basis to validate the recent breakout and remove any notions that the rally was a bull trap.

“Best case scenario especially with the US elections … would be a consolidation around these levels especially with the strong sell-offs we’ve already seen the previous days,” it said.

The PSEi was led higher by the property and mining/oil counters, which both added over 2 percent.

The holding firm counter added 1.46 percent.

The financial and industrial counters both slipped, while the services counter declined by 0.24 percent. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA