Shares firm up in thin trade
MANILA -Bargain hunters provided the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) some relief, ending Tuesday’s trading in the green, but weak turnover suggested that investors might still be on the fence ahead of local gross domestic product (GDP) report.
The benchmark PSEi rose 0.33 percent, or 21.87 points, to end at 6,622.61 while the broader All-Shares index inched up 0.19 percent, or 6.69 points, to close at 3,532.33.
“However, despite this, there was no clear conviction from investors as the net value turnover was only at P3.88 billion, which is lower than the average for the month so far,” Claire Alviar, Philstocks Financial Inc. assistant manager for research and online engagement, explained.
She noted that investors were still on the wait-and-see mode with the expected release of the country’s GDP report and inflation in United States.
All subsectors ended higher, except for financials and services indices which fell by 0.30 percent and 0.66 percent, respectively. Property was top gainer with 0.87-percent uptick.
Some 325.79 million shares valued at P4.18 billion were traded. Decliners outpaced advancers, 86 to 73, while 71 issues were unchanged.
Shares of BDO Unibank Inc.—the most actively traded—dropped by 0.66 percent to P136.10 each.
This was followed by SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 2.10 percent to P34; SM Investments Corp., up 1.63 percent to P935; International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 1.71 percent to P206.40; Ayala Land Inc., down 0.37 percent to P26.80; and Ayala Corp., up 0.30 percent to P661.50.
Other active names were Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 0.1 percent to P105; Universal Robina Corp., up 2.06 percent to P153.90; PLDT Inc., up 0.58 percent to P1,207; and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., up 0.23 percent to P4.44.
