The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) found some relief on Wednesday, albeit staying below the 6,400 territory, as investors hunted for bargains.
The PSEi climbed by 1.16 percent, or 73.59 points, to settle at 6,393.01 while the broader all-shares index inched up 0.75 percent, or 25.54 points, to finish at 3,435.24.
Apart from bargain-hunting, Philstocks Financial Inc. senior research analyst Japhet Louis Tantiangco said that the “continuous growth in our cash remittances as seen in our April figures gave sentiment a boost.”
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas recently reported that personal remittances from overseas Filipinos had gone up 3.8 percent to $2.67 billion in April from $2.57 billion last year.
All subsectors ended in the green except for services index, which fell by 2.05 percent. Property booked the most gains at 2.37 percent, followed by holding firms at 1.72 percent.
Most actively traded
About 647.17 million shares valued at P5.6 billion were traded. Decliners led advancers, 107-103, while 48 issues were unchanged.
Shares of International Container Terminal Services Inc., the most actively traded company, slipped by 1.89 percent to P186.40 apiece.
This was followed by SM Prime Holdings, up 3.84 percent to P37.90; SM Investment Corp., up 1.82 percent to P809.50; Ayala Land Inc., up 1.07 percent to P28.40; Converge ICT Solutions Inc., down 1.64 percent to P21; and Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 3.39 percent to P96 per share.
Other active names were: BDO Unibank Inc., up 2.06 percent to P123.80; Universal Robina Corp., up 2.98 percent to P96.80; Aboitiz Equity Ventures, up 3.73 percent to P50; and Ayala Corp., up 1.35 percent to P638.50.