The local stock barometer inched up for the fifth session in a row on Wednesday, tracking mostly buoyant markets in the region.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 16.6 points, or 0.24 percent, to close at 7,082.15.
“The PSEi continued higher today as more investors turned optimistic, brought by a decline in new global COVID-19 cases. This renewed optimism has encouraged investors that were on the sidelines to take a second look at the market. Even foreign investors were net-buyers today after months of heavy selling,” said Christopher Mangun, head of research at AAA Equities.
There was P122.86 million worth of net foreign buying for the day. Value turnover amounted to P11.67 billion.
“We may see more profit-taking in the next trading session as it will be the last for the week due to the holiday on Friday,” he said.
The market will be closed on Friday due to a national holiday in observance of the Lunar New Year turnover.
On Wednesday, the market was led higher by the holding firm and mining/oil counters, which both gained over 1 percent.
The services and property counters both rose by less than 1 percent.
The financial counter, however, fell by 2.6 percent, while the industrial counter shed 0.49 percent.
There were 130 advancers that edged out 91 decliners, while 44 stocks were unchanged.
Conglomerate SM Investments led the PSEi higher with its 2.08-percent gain, while SM Prime and Ayala Corp. both added over 1 percent.
RRHI, Ayala Land, PLDT and Jollibee all added less than 1 percent.
Notable gainers outside the PSEi included Basic Energy, which surged by 12.26 percent, and MRC Allied, which advanced by 9.62 percent.
The day’s most actively traded company was Dito, which rose by 7.68 percent.
PHA added 6.46 percent, while Abacore gained 5.56 percent. AC Energy firmed up by 1.02 percent.
BDO fell by 4.62 percent, while URC lost 2.15 percent. BPI and Metrobank both declined by over 1 percent. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla