PSEi breaches 6,800 level

The local stock barometer broke the 6,800 mark on Tuesday, led by buying on property stocks.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 36.26 points or 0.53 percent to close at 6,819.34 while regional markets were mixed.

“What drove the [local] market up [was that] US crude price jumped by 6.2 percent to close at $31.48 a barrel overnight and opened at more than $33 (Tuesday), reacting to Friday’s US rig count data, which showed the number of oil drilling rigs in operation falling to a December 2009 low after nine straight weeks of cuts,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.

Following crude oil, Limlingan noted that both European and US stocks rallied while market sentiment improved with VIX closing at the lowest level since the beginning of the year, falling by 37.3 percent from its February peak. VIX is the ticker symbol for the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index, which shows the market’s expectation of 30-day volatility.