Bargain hunting pushes PSEi above 6,000

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) rallied above 6,000 on Tuesday as bargain hunters bought up battered conglomerates and property stocks.

The PSEi jumped 2.65 percent, or 158.31 points, to 6,128.64 while the broader All Shares index climbed 1.72 percent, or 54.88 points, to 3,253.51.

Gains by real estate giants Ayala Land Inc. and SM Prime Holdings helped the benchmark measure break out above the psychological resistance level of 6,000.

Meanwhile, trading volume tilted lower with 351.7 million shares valued at P4.82 billion changing hands.

“A lot of the issues in our market have been trading at extremely oversold levels, many of them in fact are flirting [COVID-19] lows that we last saw in March 2020,” William Cabangon, president of stockbrokerage house AAA Equities, said in an interview with ANC on Tuesday.

“I do think this is a technical bounce. I don’t think anything material has changed in terms of outlook or in terms of the macroeconomy. I think investors should still be a bit cautious,” he added.

The property sub-index added 4.2 percent, leading other PSE sectors during the session.

Financials also rose 2.78 percent while holding firms and services each increased 2.23 percent. Industrial stocks rose 0.7 percent while mining and oil was up 0.96 percent.

Luis Gerardo Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development, said bargain hunters also bought “badly beaten” stocks.

Ayala Land was the top traded stock as it surged 7.72 percent to P25.80 per share.

It was followed by SM Prime, up 3.03 percent to P34; SM Investments Corp., down 1.63 percent to P786; Semirara Mining and Power Corp., up 0.12 percent to P41.55; and BDO Unibank Inc., up 4.24 percent to P123 per share. Ayala Corp. was up 6.4 percent to P649.

Overall, there were 109 advancers against 73 losers while 52 companies closed unchanged, data from the stock exchange showed.

—Miguel R. Camus INQ