PSEi climbs back to 7,000 as investors comb battered market for bargains

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) rebounded above the 7,000 level after bargain hunters scooped up shares, halting a four-day decline.

The PSEi ended Thursday’s session up 1.23 percent, or 85.48 points, to 7,032.54 while the broader all-shares index gained 1.02 percent, or 38.12 points, to 3,772.50.

Foreign investors, however, continued to cut their holdings with net sales of P1.02 billion on Thursday.

Global stocks were dragged lower due to worries over the spread of the Omicron variant. The discovery of the first Omicron case in the United States also triggered a selloff in Wall Street overnight.

“According to [the World Health Organization] the heavily mutated variant has been reported in at least 23 countries,” Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development, said in a note to investors on Thursday.

“The newfound threat to the recovery from the pandemic, which caused several travel bans, was intensified by the Federal Reserve mulling [over] a quicker-than-planned exit from its easy monetary policy,” he added.

All Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) subsectors saw relief on Thursday, with mining and oil and holding firms, up 2.31 percent and 2.02 percent, respectively, gaining the most.

The industrial subindex rose 1.66 percent, followed by services, up 0.91 percent, property, up 0.39 percent, and financials, up 0.34 percent.

Data from the PSE showed a total of 844.79 million shares valued at P9.04 billion changing hands. There were 111 gainers versus 78 decliners, while 50 companies closed unchanged.

Monde Nissin Corp. was the most actively traded as it slipped 1.41 percent to P16.76 per share.

It was followed by BDO Unibank Inc., up 1.1 percent to P119.30; AC Energy Corp., up 6.32 percent to P11.44; Ayala Land Inc., up 2.41 percent to P34; and Ayala Corp., up 2.48 percent to P828 per share.

Other active stocks were Globe Telecom, up 1.4 percent to P3,180; SM Investments Corp., up 1.66 percent to P947.50; Universal Robina Corp., up 1.4 percent to P130.30; SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 0.86 percent to P34.70 per share.