The local stock barometer inched up in thin trade on Tuesday as the country’s economic recession continued in the first quarter at a worse-than-expected pace.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 9.42 points or 0.15 percent to close at 6,326.83, bucking the downturn across regional markets.
This was even as the country’s first quarter gross domestic product contracted by 4.2 percent year-on-year versus the median forecast contraction of 3.2 percent in a Bloomberg survey.
“The market ended with minor gains, mainly flat on low trading volumes. The market has been slowly declining as investors remain very cautious amid the current risks. Most are hoping for a pick up in the pace of the (coronavirus) inoculation which would result in less restrictions and a faster economic recovery,” said Christopher Mangun, head of research at AAA Equities.
“We expect it to continue sideways with a negative bias until the end of the week. We may see the PSEi go all the way down to 5,800 before we see a sustained recovery,” he added.
The main index was shored up by the holding firm, services and property counters, which all added less than 1 percent.
The financial and industrial counters both slipped by less than 1 percent, while the mining/oil counter tumbled by 2.93 percent.
Value turnover remained thin at P4.64 billion. There was P347.87 million worth of net foreign selling.
Despite the PSEi’s slight gain, market breadth was negative. There were 122 decliners that outnumbered 82 advancers, while 43 stocks were unchanged.
Investors picked up shares of PLDT and Aboitiz Power, which racked up 2.35 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
Ayala Land, BDO, SM Investments, Ayala Corp., SM Prime, Globe Telecom and JG Summit all gained less than 1 percent.
Notable gainers outside the PSEi included Oriental Petroleum, which surged by 7.69 percent, while AC Energy rose by 1.95 percent.
Converge firmed up by 0.43 percent.
On the other hand, MPIC tumbled by 3.05 percent, while Megaworld and RRHI both lost over 2 percent.
ICTSI, Metrobank and URC both slipped by less than 1 percent.
Outside the PSEi, Dito CME shed 1.66 percent.