PSEi posts best finish ‍in 10 months

The local stock barometer surged to nearly 7,300 on Wednesday, matching levels last seen before the coronavirus pandemic that prompted the imposition of tough quarantine protocols in the country in mid-March.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 71.97 points or 1 percent to close at a 10-month high of 7,299.70, supported by domestic investors who made up for continued net foreign selling.

This marked the PSEi’s best finish since Feb. 21 when it closed at 7,369.78. That was before the COVID-19 contagion turned into a pandemic.

“The story remains the same for the PSEi, still with headlines on vaccines likely driving markets in the near-term … However, we reiterate our technical view that should the index still see further upside … we might already be capped at the 7,500 heavy resistance area by year-end,” stock brokerage Papa Securities said.

“US markets on the other hand, still see shifting sentiments as recent Pfizer distribution news may already be priced in on the market—with expectations of a stimulus bill driving optimism instead. [It’s] best to still monitor them in the coming days as a correction from the currently high and overbought levels still exposes global markets to another risk-off mood.”

The PSEi was led higher by the holding firm, mining/oil and property counters, which all added over 1 percent.

The financial and industrial counters both added less than 1 percent.

The services sub-index, however, slipped by 0.09 percent.

Value turnover for the day hit P9.31 billion. There was P501 million worth of net foreign selling. There have been outflows in the market for the third straight session. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA