Bargain hunt buoys blue chips

FILE PHOTO: Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi). INQUIRER FILES

The local stock market made a comeback on Wednesday as investors bought cheap stocks and cheered analysts’ more optimistic growth outlook for the Philippines, bringing the bourse above the 6,300 level.

By the end of the session, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) added 0.49 percent or 30.79 points to 6,330.46.

Meanwhile, the broader All Shares Index lost 0.25 percent or 9.06 points to close at 3,678.80.

READ: PSEi tumbles to near 7-month low

A total of 592.49 million shares worth P5.44 billion changed hands, stock exchange data showed. Foreigners opted to shed their shares, with foreign outflows totaling P540.58 million.

Japhet Tantiangco, research head at Philstocks Financial Inc., said bargain hunting managed to lift the bourse following two trading days of bloodbath.

At the same time, research firm BMI’s 6.3-percent economic growth projection for the country on the back of monetary policy easing expectations helped boost sentiment, Tantiangco said.

Property and services firms posted gains, buoyed by index heavyweights International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), the top-traded stock as it gained 1.49 percent to P395, and SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 3.36 percent to P24.60.

ICTSI was followed by Ayala Corp., down 1.64 percent to P570; BDO Unibank Inc., down 0.14 percent to P143.80; SM Prime; and Ayala Land Inc., up 2.75 percent to P26.20 per share.

Other actively traded stocks were PLDT Inc., up 2.34 percent to P1,310; Synergy Grid and Development Phils Inc., up 2.99 percent to P12.40; Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., down 0.49 percent to P70.65; Dito CME Holdings, down 7 percent to P1.86; and SM Investments Corp., down 0.42 percent to P834.50.

Losers outnumbered gainers, 100 to 88, while 44 companies closed unchanged, stock exchange data also showed.