PSEi inches up; local investors lead the way

The local stock barometer ended a tad higher on Monday, moving in line with regional peers, which mostly firmed up ahead of the Lunar New Year turnover.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 5.3 points, or 0.08 percent, to close at 7,024.48.

“Local shares traded slightly up as investors continued to make their bets ahead of the PSEi and MSCI rebalancing results, the anticipation of earnings releases and the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) policy meeting outcome on Thursday,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.

Last week, it was reported that the January year-on-year inflation rate exceeded the 4 percent upper end of the BSP’s target range. However, most economists see the BSP keeping its accommodative monetary settings given the still sluggish economic environment.

Meanwhile, there’s no change in the PSEi composition for now, based on the PSE’s February review.

On Monday, the market was led higher by the financial and mining/oil counters, which both rose by over 2 percent.

The industrial and services counters both firmed up by less than 1 percent.

On the other hand, the holding firm and property counters declined by less than 1 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P10.43 billion. Domestic hands steadied the market, as there was net foreign selling worth P20.74 million for the day.

The index was led higher by Metrobank, which advanced by 4.21 percent, while Ayala Land and BPI both added over 2 percent. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla INQ