Property stocks rise on BSP policy easing

The local stock barometer breached the 8,000 level on Monday, led by property stocks as these are poised to benefit from the central bank’s monetary easing.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) racked up 114.86 points or 1.44 percent to close at 8,084.88, perked up by a resurgence in foreign buying.

The index hit as high as 8,139.74 in intraday trade as P1.43 billion worth of net foreign money flowed into local equities.

All counters ended higher, but the biggest gain was recorded by the property counter, which surged by 3.29 percent.

The holding firm counter also rose by 1.16 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P10 billion.

There were 120 advancers that edged out 72 decliners, while 48 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was led higher by property giant Ayala Land, which surged by 5.96 percent and was the day’s most actively traded company.

Other big property firms also gained. Robinsons Land added 4.23 percent while Megaworld racked up 3.05 percent. SM Prime also moved up by 1.13 percent.

Joseph Roxas, president of local stockbrokerage Eagle Equities Inc., said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ cut in the reserve requirement and overnight borrowing rates would benefit property and banking stocks.

BPI and Metrobank both added more than 1 percent while BDO ended 0.36 percent lower.

Globe Telecom rose by 4.15 percent.

Universal Robina Corp. and Alliance Global Group Inc. both gained 2 percent, while Ayala Corp., SM Investments, Metro Pacific, JG Summit and Meralco added more than 1 percent.

PLDT also inched up.

Outside of PSEi stocks, notable gainers included Filinvest Land, which rose by 2.34 percent.

Meanwhile, ICTSI fell by 1.1 percent while Jollibee and Aboitiz Equity Ventures also slipped.