PSEi approaches 6,800 with big push from foreign investors

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) extended gains on Monday as the benchmark measure rallied by 120 points to close near the key resistance level of 6,800.

The PSEi added 1.83 percent, or 122.27 points, to 6,790.24 while the broader All Shares index climbed 1.59 percent, or 55.90 points, to 3,568.97.

“Investors picked up where they left off last week, as foreign buying continued to dominate the start of the year,” Luis Gerardo Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development, said in a note to investors on Monday.

A total of 2.4 billion shares valued at P6.41 billion changed hands while foreigners were net buyers to the tune of P284 million, data from the stock exchange showed.

“Investor confidence also got a boost from the United States, as stocks ended sharply higher Friday, with the [Dow Jones Industrial Average] jumping 700 points, after an employment report showed wage gains slowed in December,” Limlingan said.

PSE subsectors closed in the green, with mining and oil and financials taking the lead with gains of 3.05 percent and 2.21 percent, respectively.

Holding firms increased 1.83 percent, followed by property, up 1.77 percent; services, up 1.32 percent; and industrial, up 1.28 percent.

SM Investments Corp. was the top traded stock as it closed flat at P900 per share.

It was followed by PLDT Inc., up 1.95 percent to P1,412; ACEN Corp., up 1.47 percent to P7.60; Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 5.37 percent to P106; and BDO Unibank Inc., up 1.26 percent to P112.40 per share.

Bloomberry Resorts Corp. rose 1.12 percent to P9; International Container Terminal Services Inc., up 1.02 percent to P198; and SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 2.04 percent to P37.50 per share.

Overall, there were 148 advancers against 47 losers while 43 companies closed unchanged. INQ