PSEi up 1.65%, breaches 6,000 level

The local stock barometer rallied back to the 6,000 level on Tuesday on follow-through buying triggered by news that the coronavirus infection curve in the Philippines might finally be flattening.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 98.18 points or 1.65 percent to close at 6,034.03, outperforming most regional markets. However, this happened during another low-volume trading session.

“It seems that the PSEi is gathering steam,” stock brokerage Papa Securities said.

“Note that we may be in for a slew of positive headlines soon with how the Philippines has started to flatten the COVID curve. That could be good enough news for the PSEi that looks to its next resistance of 6,167,” it said.

UP OCTA, an independent and interdisciplinary research group composed mostly of UP faculty members and alumni, recently said the infection curve had flattened, adding however that the momentum must be sustained.

Papa Securities said it was possible the PSEi could be forming a double bottom pattern—a bullish formation—with support at 5,700.

“Any decisive breakout would need the index to first beat the 6,167 level—especially with RSI (relative strength index) just recovering from oversold level,” it added.

Domestic investors made up for continued foreign selling. The market saw P647.32 million of net foreign outflows for the day.

The PSEi was led higher by the financial and industrial sectors, which both gained over 2 percent.

The holding firm and property counters both added over 1 percent. The services counter rose by 0.85 percent.

The mining/oil counter, however, declined by 0.74 percent.

Value turnover for the day was thin at P4.57 billion.

There were 112 advancers that outnumbered 84 decliners, while 46 stocks were unchanged.

Metro Pacific and Megaworld led the PSEi’s gains, both rallying by 4.73 percent.

Ayala Land, BDO, GT Capital and AGI all surged by over 3 percent, while Ayala Corp., URC, Metrobank and Bloomberry all rose by over 2 percent.

SM Investments, SM Prime and ICTSI all added over 1 percent, while PLDT and BPI gained less than 1 percent.

On the other hand, RRHI declined by 1.16 percent.

One notable decliner outside the PSEi was MerryMart, which shed 2 percent. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA INQ