PSEi gains 0.59% as businesses expect more support from gov’t

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) gained ground on Tuesday as investors made bets the government would do more to support businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

By the closing bell, the PSEi was up 0.59 percent, or 41.07 points, to 7,065.55 while the broader all-shares index was up 0.41 percent, or 17.36 points, to 4,249.93.

Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development, said in a research note that some investors were “hopeful that the new COVID-19 stimulus coupled with further economic recovery would be enough impetus for companies to recover.”

Subsectors ended mixed on Tuesday, with property, industrial and mining and oil closing in negative territory. Holding firms rose the most with a gain of 1.48 percent, followed by services and financials.

Trading volumes

Meanwhile, trading volumes surged to 30.45 billion shares valued at P12.3 billion changing hands. There were 127 gainers versus 104 losers while 40 companies closed unchanged.

Dito CME Holdings Corp. was the most actively traded on Tuesday as it dropped 3.17 percent to P15.88 per share.

It was followed by AC Energy Corp., up 0.77 percent to P7.81; Apollo Global Capital Inc., up 17.37 percent to P0.25; BDO Unibank Inc., up 1.26 percent to P112.50; Premier Horizon Alliance, up 13.08 percent to P2.94 and SM Investments Corp., up 3.53 percent to P1,056 per share. —Miguel R. Camus INQ