PSEi extends win streak past 6,100
INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Investors brought the local bourse above 6,100 on Thursday as they continued buying cheap stocks.
By the end of the session, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) jumped by 1.14 percent or 69.06 points to 6,113.19.
Likewise, the broader All Shares Index added 0.79 percent or 28.54 points to close at 3,647.73. A total of 772.25 million shares worth P5.06 billion changed hands, stock exchange data showed.
READ: Jollibee opens up stock ownership to more foreign investors
Foreigners remained net sellers, with foreign outflows totaling P336.15 million.
Japhet Tantiangco, research head at Philstocks Financial Inc., said investors continued bargain hunting on Thursday while also hoping for positive catalysts from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ policy meeting, the results of which were announced after the stock market closed.
In a surprise move, the central bank opted to keep its key rate unchanged at 5.75 percent, saying that domestic growth expectations were “firm.”
Investors snapped up shares of mining and oil firms the most, as well as services-related companies.
Homegrown fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. was the most actively traded stock as it surged by 10.72 percent to P262.40 following news that it had removed its 40-percent foreign ownership limit.
It was followed by International Container Terminal Services Inc., which rallied by 4.41 percent to P355; Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 1.37 percent to P129.20; BDO Unibank Inc., up 0.65 percent to P139.90; and DigiPlus Interactive Corp., up 9.17 percent to P35.70 each.
Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. was up by 1.47 percent to P72.25; SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 0.21 percent to P23.45; Ayala Land Inc., down 0.21 percent to P24.15; Synergy Grid and Development Phils. Inc., up 1.87 percent to P12; and SM Investments Corp., up 1.29 percent to P825 per share.
Gainers edged out losers, 110 to 86, while 49 companies closed unchanged, stock exchange data also showed.
