Still hungover from Thursday’s rally, PSEi makes small gain

The local stock barometer slightly gained on Friday as some foreign funds flowed back to the market as the MSCI rebalancing adjustments of global fund managers ended.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 9.37 points or 0.14 percent to close at 6,674.51 on follow-through buying after Thursday’s big rally.

For the week, the PSEi racked up a total of 475.26 points or 7.7 percent, mostly due to Thursday’s 5.11-percent gain.

“Philippine shares edged higher after investors digested another batch of positive economic data,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.

US jobless claims fall

Limlingan cited the upbeat US labor data, which showed jobless claims continued to fall to 406,000 as of the week ending May 22, as the economic recovery encouraged companies to start hiring. “While the overall sentiment is positive, it seems that investors are still looking at when the Fed (US Federal Reserve) will start holding off on bond purchases,” Limlingan said.

At the local market on Friday, except for the holding firm counter, which succumbed to profit-taking as it slipped 1.49 percent, all counters edged higher.

The biggest gains were posted by the services and property counters, which added 1.93 percent and 1.06 percent, respectively.

The financial, industrial and mining/oil counters all added less than 1 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P12.4 billion. After nine consecutive sessions that saw net foreign outflows, there was P917.26 million in net foreign buying for the day.

Advancers overwhelm

There were 119 advancers that overwhelmed 69 decliners, while 66 stocks were unchanged.After taking a heavy beating in the past few days following its removal from the MSCI Global Standard Index, Aboitiz Power recouped 11.96 percent.

Puregold and Megaworld, likewise stricken off the MSCI Global index, also rebounded by 6.22 percent and 5.74 percent, respectively.

Investors also picked up shares of BDO, which rose by 3.35 percent, while PLDT added 2.88 percent.

SM Prime and ICTSI both gained over 1 percent, while GT Capital and Metrobank added less than 1 percent.

Outside the PSEi, notable gainers included AllHome, which surged by 6.49 percent.

On the other hand, Ayala Corp., SM Investments, Globe and BPI all shed over 2 percent, while Jollibee lost 1.7 percent.

Ayala Land, the day’s most actively traded company, slipped by 0.72 percent.

One notable decliner outside the PSEi was AC Energy, which lost 1.62 percent. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA