PSEi defies regional slump

The local stock barometer bucked a regional downturn on Monday as local investors selectively picked up large cap stocks that were sold down over the last two days.

Reversing losses early in the session, the main share Philippine Stock Exchange recouped 44.46 points or 0.59 percent to close at 7,554.40.

The day’s rebound was led by the financial counter, which gained 1.06 percent while holding firms and property counters modestly firmed up. On the other hand, the services counter tumbled by 1.56 percent while the industrial and services counters also slipped.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.23 billion.  Despite the PSEi’s gain, market breadth was negative.  There were nearly twice as much decliners (128) as there were advancers (62).

MPI gained by 1.59 percent while URC, JG Summit, BDO and Jollibee also firmed up.

The PSEi’s rise was capped by the decline of Petron (-4.66 percent), EDC (-3.45 percent) and PLDT (-1.85 percent) while AC, ALI and Globe also tumbled. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla