PSEi creeps back to 6,500 despite blah trade

The local stock barometer clawed its way back to the 6,500 territory on Wednesday but a thin trading volume suggested lack of buying conviction amid continuing worries on rising local COVID-19 cases.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 65.42 points, or 1.01 percent, to close at 6,523.21, rising for the first time after three trading sessions and moving in line with mostly firmer markets across the region.

“The PSEi ended higher after bouncing off its immediate support level of 6,440 level in the previous trading session. There was minimal trading at the beginning of the session as the sentiment remains subdued due to the potential escalation of the health crisis,” said Christopher Mangun, head of research at AAA Equities.

Mangun noted stock prices were mainly flat and with a slight negative bias throughout the day.

“The lack of selling pressure at current prices was a sign that there is still some optimism and investors are willing to hold on to current positions despite the lack of positive catalysts. This attracted buyers to come in and pick these shares after several days of losses,” Mangun said.

“Last minute buying propelled the main index to end at its high for the day. We expect this sideways trend on low trading volumes to continue until there is a significant change, whether positive or negative, in the current pandemic situation,” he added.

All counters ended in the green, led by the financial and holding firm counters, which rose by 1.81 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

The rest of the subindices added less than 1 percent.

Value turnover was thin at P4.68 billion. Foreign investors continued to trim their holdings of local stocks, resulting in net selling of P710.73 million.

There were 111 advancers that outnumbered 81 decliners, while 55 stocks were unchanged

Sy family-led BDO and SM Prime as well as fast-food giant Jollibee led the PSEi higher. They all rose by over 2 percent.

SM Investments, Ayala Corp., Metrobank, PLDT and JG Summit all rose by over 1 percent, while Globe Telecom added less than 1 percent.

Outside the PSEi, one notable gainer was AyalaLand Logistics, which surged by 8.22 percent after announcing its entry into the cold storage chain business.

Basic Energy climbed by 5.15 percent, while Converge and AC Energy both added over 1 percent. Dito rose by 0.94 percent. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA