Sale season soon? ‘Undervalued’ PSEi keeps 6,300 spot

MANILA  -The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) held steady above 6,300 as investors piled into blue chip stocks after new inflation data showed prices cooling.

By the closing bell, the PSEi closed flat at 6,305.85, down 0.05 percent or 3.10 points, while the broader All Shares index was down 0.01 percent, or 0.36 points, to 3,351.66.

Trading volume saw a modest uptick as 345.22 million shares valued at P5.67 billion changed hands while foreigners were mostly buyers for a net amount of P378.57 million, data from the stock exchange showed.

“It is a favorable time to start accumulating given that the PSEi is sharply undervalued on a historical basis despite improving macro indicators,” Rachelleen Rodriguez, head of equity research at Maybank Securities Philippines, said on Wednesday.

Financials leading

PSE subsectors were mostly lower, led by financials (-0.89 percent), followed by mining and oil (-0.66 percent), industrial (-0.29 percent) and property (-0.28 percent). Services and holding firms rose 0.93 percent and 0.29 percent, respectively.

International Container Terminal Services Inc. was the top traded stock as it rose 2.71 percent to a new high of P235 per share.

Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. was up 0.69 percent to P50.85; BDO Unibank Inc.; down 1.52 percent to P129.70; Ayala Land Inc., up 1.13 percent to P31.40; and Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 1.42 percent to P104.50 per share.

Century Pacific Food Inc. was up 3.83 percent to P32.50; Universal Robina Corp., down 1.23 percent to P112.40; SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 1.05 percent to P33; Wilcon Depot Inc., down 0.74 percent to P20.10; and SM Investments Corp., up 0.55 percent to P828 per share.

Overall, there were 92 losers against 79 advancers while 50 companies closed unchanged, data from the stock exchange also showed.