Stock index tracks rebound in region, closes higher

The local stock barometer strengthened its position above the 7,000 mark on Monday, tracking the regional rebound following last week’s selldown triggered by global growth jitters.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index recouped 54.31 points or 0.78 percent to close at 7,057.53.

The day’s upswing was led by the industrial and property counters that both rose by over 1 percent. On the other hand, the services and mining/oil counters slipped.

Value turnover for the day was thin at P5.99 billion. There were 89 advancers that edged out 78 decliners while 44 stocks were unchanged.

EDC was the day’s most actively traded

stock, rising by 3.97 percent. It was reported that EDC was set to begin operations of two new power plants by end-October.

SM stocks SM Prime and SMIC also contributed to the PSEi’s gain, both rising by over 3 percent.

BDO, Petron and AP all advanced by over 1 percent while ALI, AC and Meralco all contributed to the PSEi’s gains.

Luz Lorenzo, economist at Maybank ATR Kim Eng Securities, said her firm was retaining its “overweight” rating on the Philippines despite the recent bearish turn that had given rise to stock market volatility and 5 percent pullback in PSEi since late September. She added that the Philippine economy was expected to outperform regional peers.

Overweight is a recommendation to accumulate stocks relative to a certain benchmark index.

With the country’s first-semester gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 6 percent, Lorenzo noted that the consensus among three multilateral institutions was that this second semester would be better. Doris C. Dumlao