Big banks buoy blue chips past 6,700

MANILA, Philippines  —The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index rallied above 6,700 on Friday as investors bought up large lenders after Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) announced record high earnings in 2023.

The PSEi climbed 1.27 percent, or 84.24 points, to 6,707.25 while the broader All Shares index was up 0.88 percent, or 30.79 points, to 3,516.82.

Investors on Friday also made bets ahead of the upcoming January inflation report.

READ: PH December inflation eases to 3.9%

“Inflation is expected to slow down in the next three months given base effects, but it may bounce back in the second quarter and could possibly breach the 4 percent target again for a few months, before returning to the 2-4 percent range in the second half of the year,” BPI said.

“Despite this, average inflation for the year is expected to settle at 3.7 percent,” it added.

Subsectors mostly higher

PSE data showed nearly 450 million shares valued at P5.98 billion changing hands while foreign buyers narrowly edged out sellers by P35.78 million.

READ: Asian shares buoyed by US tech bounce, payrolls in focus

Subsectors were mostly higher, with financials (+2.50 percent) taking the lead, thanks to gains by BPI and BDO Unibank. Property stocks slumped 0.57 percent.

BDO was also the most actively traded stock as it rose 3.13 percent to P148.50 per share.

Universal Robina Corp. was up 0.64 percent to P110.90; SM Investments Corp., up 2.35 percent to P914; International Container Terminal Services Inc., up 2.06 percent to P248; and BPI, up 3.20 percent to P116.10 per share.

Monde Nissin Corp. Was up 7.29 percent to P9.42; SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 1.32 percent to P33.60; Ayala Land Inc., down 0.45 percent to P33.50; Bloomberry Resorts Corp., up 3.66 percent to P11.34; and Ayala Corp., down 0.88 percent to P672 per share.

Overall, there were 98 advancers against 76 losers while 56 companies closed unchanged, data from the stock exchange showed. —Miguel R. Camus