Bargain-hunting sparks ‘Santa Claus’ rally ahead of holiday break

Traders on Monday scrambled to buy cheap stocks after last week’s bloodbath, with the benchmark index reclaiming lost ground.

By the closing bell, the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) rallied by 2.01 percent, or 128.53 points, to 6,534.91.

Likewise, the broader All Shares Index added 1.4 percent, or 51.4 points, to close at 3,727.23.

READ: Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate worries

A total of 713.21 million shares worth P4.2 billion changed hands as foreigners made P255.38 million in net purchases, stock exchange data showed.

So far, the PSEi has declined by 13.5 percent from its recent peak of about 7,555 in October.

With a few trading days left this year—there will be no trading on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25, as well as Dec. 30 and Dec. 31—investors opted to buy stocks ahead, allowing the PSEi to finally bounce back, according to Luis Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development Corp.

Dovish move

The market rebound also came after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) had announced another quarter-point rate cut during its last monetary policy meeting for the year.

Cumulatively, the BSP has slashed the interest rate for overnight borrowing by 75 basis points this year to 5.75 percent.

All subsectors registered gains, with investors snapping up the shares of industrial and property firms the most.

International Container Terminal Services Inc. was the top-traded stock as it climbed by 2.05 percent to P398 each, followed by BDO Unibank Inc., up 0.35 percent to P145.10; Ayala Land Inc., up 5.85 percent to P26.25; SP New Energy Corp., up 0.98 percent to P1.03; and Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 0.91 percent to P122.60 each.

Other actively traded stocks were SM 
Investments Corp., up 1.93 percent to P900; SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 1.41 percent to P25.15; Universal Robina Corp., up 0.13 percent to P75; PLDT Inc., up 0.24 percent to P1,255; and Ayala Corp., up 1.1 percent to P600 per share.

Gainers overpowered losers, 110 to 72, while 53 companies closed unchanged, stock exchange data also showed.