PSEi again reclaims 7,000 in dizzying end to the week

Philippine stocks ended a roller-coaster of a week in the green on the recovery of property heavyweights such as Megaworld Corp. and SM Prime Holdings.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose 0.59 percent, or 41.19 points, to 7,027.38 while the broader All Shares index added 0.59 percent, or 21.68 points, to 3,705.46.

The PSEi seesawed between gains and losses during the last three sessions, reclaiming the key 7,000 level on Friday.

Analysts said volatile movements were partly due to the PSE rebalancing, which takes effect on Feb. 6.

DMCI Holdings Inc. and Union Bank of the Philippines will join the 30-member PSEi on that date, replacing Megaworld and Robinsons Land Corp.

The tweaks also realigned foreign funds, which helped spur trading activity involving 1.89 billion shares valued at P20.12 billion. Foreigners were net buyers of an amount totaling P351.51 million on Friday, stock exchange data showed.

The property subsector climbed 2.42 percent, followed by industrial (+0.63 percent), financial (+0.39 percent) and holding firms (+0.03 percent). Mining and oil and services shed 1.76 percent and 0.46 percent, respectively.