PSEi marks 14th record finish for 2015

THE LOCAL stock barometer firmed up above the 7,800 mark to hit another record high on Friday as trading activities resumed following the Lunar Year turnover.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index gained another 21.94 points or 0.28 percent to close at its best-ever finish of 7,825.39, which also marked the day’s intra-day peak. This marked the 14th record closing posted by the PSEi for 2015.

This also marked the sixth day of the PSEi’s winning streak as the fourth quarter and full-year 2014 local corporate reporting season continued to unfold.

“Trading activity may be muted because of the Lunar New Year break in other countries but it has obviously not kept the index from gaining. We are pleased that alongside the record highs, we have seen the market’s daily average turnover almost double to P11.70 billion from the same period last year. We hope that this level of activity will be sustained, and hopefully even improve in the coming months,” PSE president Hans Sicat said in a press statement.

Considering the year-to-date run-up and the continued stream of full-year earnings, local stock brokerage DA Market Securities said it had observed “rife rotation of funds among stocks as investors seek for more attractive values in the market.”

The day’s gains were led by the industrial, holding firm, services and property counters while the financial and mining/oil counters slipped.

Value turnover amounted to P6.89 billion. There were 90 advancers versus 83 decliners while 81 stocks were unchanged.

AEV and MPI led the PSEi higher, both rising by over 1 percent while URC, EDC, ALI, AC, AP,SMIC and AGI also contributed gains to the index.

Outside of the PSEi, the notable gainers were FED (+14.03 percent) and Lopez Holdings (+3.64 percent) which both advanced in heavy trade.

Since the start of the year, the PSEi has now gained by 8.2 percent.