PH potentially exiting recession sends PSEi swinging back to 6,600

Stocks started the week on an upbeat note ahead of the government’s second quarter report on the economy, which is widely expected to exit from the recession seen in the last five quarters.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi), which likewise tracked upbeat US and regional markets, racked up 92.66 points or 1.42 percent to close on Monday at 6,632.57.

“Investors bought up following a Friday US rally [as] bolstered by the stronger-than-expected jobs report,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.

“Back home, the second quarter GDP (gross domestic product) data will be released (Tuesday), which is seen to influence the Monetary Board meeting that will be held on Aug 12. Investors have been buying ahead of a projected bounce in economic growth in the second quarter,” he said.

Market consensus is expecting the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to maintain an accommodative monetary policy until the end of the year, despite risks that the US Federal Reserve may taper its monetary stimulus sooner than expected.

The upswing was led by the property counter, which advanced by 3.65 percent, while the holding firm counter added 1.53 percent.

The financial, industrial and services counters all added by less than 1 percent.

Only the mining/oil counter ended in the red, losing 1.87 percent.

Value turnover amounted to P6.4 billion. Domestic hands kept the market buoyant as foreigners posted a net selling position of P169.2 million.

There were 115 advancers that outnumbered 91 decliners, while 34 stocks were unchanged.

The index was led higher by property giants Ayala Land and SM Prime, which rose by 4.64 percent and 3.83 percent, respectively.

SM Investments and LTG both rose by over 2 percent, while ICTSI added 1.03 percent.

Banking stocks BPI and Metrobank both added less than 1 percent.

The upcoming PSEi rebalancing also continued to influence trading.

The day’s most actively traded company was AC Energy, which rose by 2.4 percent, followed by Converge, which gained 1.88 percent. Both will be debuting on the main index on Aug 16.