Market finds relief from recent bloodbath

Bargain hunting propped up the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) on Thursday, providing relief after a five-day selloff.

By the closing bell, the PSEi rose 0.93 percent, or 54.57 points, to 5,934.25 while the broader All Shares Index gained 0.8 percent, or 25.24 points, to 3,190.88.

A total of 658.93 million shares valued at P5.2 billion changed hands, data from the stock exchange showed.

Relief partially came from news that the Bank of England would buy government bonds and delay the sale of bond holdings in an effort to stabilize the United Kingdom’s economy.

The PSEi, however, remained in bear market territory on fears that ongoing aggressive monetary tightening measures would trigger a global recession.

PSE subsectors were mostly positive, save for services which fell 0.89 percent.

Holding firms rose 2.26 percent, followed by mining and oil, up 1.85 percent; industrial, up 1.26 percent; financials, up 0.79 percent; and property, up 0.3 percent.

International Container Terminal Services Inc. was the top traded company as it sank 3.97 percent to P174.30.

It was followed by SM Investments Corp., up 3.68 percent to P760; Ayala Land Inc., up 0.22 percent to P23.10; BDO Unibank Inc., up 2.61 percent to P114.10; and SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 0.62 percent to P31.90 per share.

Bank of the Philippine Islands dipped 0.33 percent to P90; Jollibee Foods Corp., went up 2.45 percent to P234; Globe Telecom, down 1.23 percent to P2,084; Metro Pacific Investments Corp., up 2.99 percent to P3.45; and Converge ICT Solutions Inc., down 4.97 percent to P14.16 per share.

Overall, there were 121 advancers against 76 losers while 42 companies closed unchanged.