Bourse closes .65% higher on bargain hunting

Bargain hunters swooped in to lift the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) after two straight days of decline.

By the closing bell on Thursday, the PSEi was up 0.65 percent, or 52.36 points, to 8,098.16 while the broader all-shares index was up 0.3 percent to 4,904.51.

Subsectors were mostly up on moderate volume. Only services dropped 1.43 percent as heavyweights PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom declined, bucking gains for the day.

Property rose the most with a 1.6-percent increase, followed by mining and oil, up 1.09 percent, and financials, up 0.9 percent.

Data from the PSE showed a total of 1.86 billion shares valued at P6.6 billion changing hands. There were 116 losers against 82 gainers while 44 companies closed unchanged.

Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. was the most actively traded yesterday as it closed unchanged at P50.05 per share.

It was followed by Ayala Land Inc., up 0.50 percent to P50.05; Ayala Corp., down 0.78 percent to P950; BDO Unibank Inc., up 2.04 percent to P150; and Metropolitan Bank & Trust, down 0.99 percent to P75 per share.

Other actively traded companies were SM Prime Holdings, up 4.11 percent to P38; Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 1.67 percent to P91.50; Universal Robina Corp., up 2.76 percent to P164; Jollibee Foods Corp., up 0.39 percent to P260; and International Container Terminal Services Inc., unchanged at P135 per share.