PSEi flirts with 7,000 in intraday trade

MANILA, Philippines  — The local benchmark index continued to flirt with the 7,000 level as bullish momentum was sustained ahead of the release of local inflation data.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) breached the 7,000 level intraday on Monday before closing at 6,951.67, a gain of 0.46 percent or 32.08 points. This is the second straight session that the PSEi briefly moved above 7,000 before making a small pullback.

The broader All Shares Index also closed in positive territory, with an increase of 0.27 percent, or 9.74 points, to 3,618.95.

“Philippine shares continued to rise as investors made bets ahead of the February [consumer price index],” Luis Gerardo Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development, said on Monday.

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A total of 530.2 million shares valued at P5.64 billion changed hands while foreigners made net purchases of almost P800 million, data from the stock exchange showed.

Top traded stocks

PSE subsectors saw a mixed finish, with services, property and mining and oil pushing higher while financials, industrial and holding firms retreated.

Bank of the Philippine Islands was the top traded stock as it slipped 1.64 percent to P120 per share. International Container Terminal Services rallied nearly 6 percent to P300, while SM Investments Corp. was down 0.21 percent to P935. SM Prime Holdings Inc., was up 2.31 percent to P33.20 and BDO Unibank Inc., down 1.3 percent to P152 per share.

Ayala Land Inc. was up 0.29 percent to P34.90; Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., up 4.51 percent to P63.70; Ayala Corp., down 0.58 percent to P687; Jollibee Foods Corp., down 1.69 percent to P267; and PLDT Inc., down 0.08 percent to P1,285 per share.

Overall, there were 88 advancers against 94 losers while 54 companies closed unchanged, data from the stock exchange showed.