The local stock barometer surged to the 6,800 level on Wednesday, outperforming markets across the region, as investors cheered prospects for additional fiscal stimulus and the easing of some lockdown restrictions.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) racked up 214.26 points or 3.23 percent to close at 6,841.69, buoyed by about P1.82 billion in net foreign buying.
“We expected more downside as inventors were taking profits from last week’s rally, which was what we have been seeing in the last few trading days. The lack of selling pressure in today’s session was a clear sign that most investors were willing to hold on longer instead of locking in their profits. This drew buyers back into the market, which ultimately pushed prices a lot higher,” said Christopher Mangun, head of research at AAA Equities.
“[Congress passing Bayanihan 3], the easing of some restrictions like leisure travel and the slight improvement in the manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers’ index) definitely helped improve the sentiment. The rally is starting to look like what we saw back in October and if it continues like this, we are going to see substantially higher valuations in the short-term,” he added.
All counters ended higher, led by the property counter, which climbed by 4.41 percent, while the holding firm counter advanced by 3.59 percent.
The industrial and services counters both added over 2 percent.
The financial and mining/oil counters both added less than 1 percent.
Value turnover for the day amounted to P9.5 billion as foreign flows perked up the market.
There were 153 advancers that overwhelmed 52 decliners, while 49 stocks were unchanged.
Ayala Land led the PSEi higher with its 5.57-percent gain, while Megaworld and GT Capital both advanced by over 4 percent.
SM Prime, the day’s most actively traded company, added 3.96 percent, while ICTSI and Ayala Corp. also rose by over 3.9 percent.
Jollibee and URC gained over 3 percent, while Aboitiz Power and Puregold added over 2 percent.
BPI rose by 1.66 percent while BDO, PLDT and Metrobank all added less than 1 percent.
Notable gainers outside the PSEi included D&L, which racked up 4.73 percent, while Dito added 3.71 percent.
AC Energy firmed up by 1.5 percent, while A. Brown added 2.08 percent.
Newly listed Monde Nissin slipped for the second straight session after its trading debut, losing 0.15 percent. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA