Christmas spirit keeps PSEi hopes alive in tepid 2023

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) reclaimed the 6,500 level just before the Christmas holiday season as bulls banked on a Santa Claus rally after volatility indicators showed investors were willing to take on more risk.

The PSEi rose 0.49 percent, or 31.77 points, to 6,501 also as the Ayala Group’s ACEN Corp. rebounded after the previous day’s selloff.

The broader All Shares index added 0.68 percent, or 23.04 points, to 3,427.30.

“The year may, after all, not end with a whimper despite the absence of new stimuli,” First Metro Investment Corp. and the University of Asia and the Pacific said in the latest issue of The Market Call.

“A last-minute rush to the local equities market comes with more risk appetite,” it added, citing the closely followed volatility index.

Trading activity was muted on Friday as 536.25 million shares valued at P3.21 billion changed hands, while foreigners were net sellers of an amount worth P87 million.

PSE subsectors were mostly higher with industrial (+1.68 percent) taking the lead, followed by property (+0.54 percent) and services (+0.43 percent). Financials slipped 0.29 percent.

ACEN Corp. was the top traded stock as it jumped 11.86 percent to P4.15 per share following the previous session’s nearly 8-percent plunge.

Ayala Land Inc. followed as it increased 0.74 percent to P34.10; SM Investments Corp., up 0.17 percent to P904.50; SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 0.30 percent to P33.10; and International Container Terminal Services Inc., up 0.84 percent to P240 per share.

Jollibee Foods Corp. was up 3.31 percent to P250; Universal Robina Corp., flat at P115; GT Capital Holdings Inc., down 0.85 percent to P580; Ayala Corp., up 0.63 percent to P714.50; and Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 0.48 percent to P104.10 per share.

Overall, there were 105 winners against 63 losers, while 58 companies closed unchanged, data from the stock exchange showed. —MIGUEL R. CAMUS