PSE starts week on upbeat note

The stock market started the week on an upbeat note, bringing the main stock barometer back to the 7,100 mark on selective buying of blue chips.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 51.31 points or 0.73 percent to close at 7,106.01. Elsewhere in the region, trading sentiment was mixed.

“Philippine shares got off to a strong start to start November as traders weighed a record-high close for US equities and awaited key central bank decisions amid concerns about elevated inflation,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.

The local market was led higher by the financial and holding firm counters, which both rose by over 1 percent. The services and property counters both firmed up by less than 1 percent.

The industrial and mining/oil counters declined by 1.67 percent and 2.26 percent, respectively.

Total value turnover amounted to about P7.5 billion.

Despite the PSEi’s rebound, market breadth was negative. There were 104 decliners that outnumbered 81 advancers, while 46 stocks were unchanged.

Domestic investors led the main index higher, making up for about P177.79 million in net foreign selling. Some investors took advantage of the market’s pullback last Friday to pick up selected large-cap companies.

Globe Telecom surged by 4.6 percent after its fintech arm Mynt sealed a new equity deal that unlocked $2 billion in enterprise valuation.

Index heavyweight SM Investments also jumped by 4.15 percent.

Metrobank gained 2.73 percent, while SM Prime, BPI and LTG all rose by over 1 percent.

BDO added 0.89 percent.

Notable gainers outside the PSEi included MREIT and Monde Nissin, which rose by 0.44 percent and 0.87 percent, in relatively heavy volume.

On the other hand, URC fell by 4.35 percent after releasing its third quarter results.

Jollibee and Converge both declined by over 2 percent. INQ