LOCAL EQUITIES bounced back on Thursday as the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSEi) index tried to breach the 8,200 level.

The 30-member bellwether index rose 0.55% or 45.31 points to close yesterday’s session at 8,174.93.

The broader all-shares index also added 0.40% or 19.19 points to finish at 4,800.59.

“Philippine markets traded on a higher note trying to build momentum towards the 8,200 support,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message yesterday.

Analysts have previously noted that the market will be climbing in the following weeks as investors are lifted by positive sentiment ahead of the holidays.

Meanwhile, Summit Securities, Inc. President Harry G. Liu said the index will continue consolidating as investors await the outcome of the government’s tax reform and infrastructure programs.

“I feel that the market is just consolidating waiting for this tax reform. And then this infrastructure,” Mr. Liu said in a phone interview.

“Overall it will continue to pick up,” Mr. Liu added.

Overseas, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.16% or 39.73 points to 24,140.91. The S&P 500 took a small hit of 0.01% or 0.3 points to end at 2,629.27, while  the Nasdaq Composite index added 0.21% or 14.16 points to 6,776.38.

At home, the property counter was the lone sub-index that moved to negative territory, losing 0.19% or 7.23 points to 3,799.31.

The mining and oil sub-index led yesterday’s rally, surging 3.99% or 448.98 points to 11,695.73. Industrials followed with an increase of 0.93% or 99.93 points; holding firms climbed 0.53% or 44.29 points to 8,281; financials went up 0.43% or 9.07 points to 2,086.20; and services added 0.09% or 1.58 points to 1,599.28.

Advancers trumped decliners, 97 to 93, while 47 names were unchanged.

A total of 877.69 million issues changed hands for a total value turnover of P5.95 billion, falling from Wednesday’s P6.62-billion trading value.

The market logged a net foreign selling position for the fifth consecutive day at P340.55 million. This is lower than the P707.87 million recorded at the end of Wednesday’s trading session.

Meanwhile, most Southeast Asian stock markets traded within a tight range on Thursday as uncertainty over US government policies kept risk sentiment in check, with Singapore set to extend the previous session’s sharp decline.

Asian markets remained tentative after Wednesday’s slump, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan hovering around a near two-month low.

Investors are looking to the final tax reform legislation in the US, where a potential US government shutdown looms if Congress fails to agree on a spending package. — A.B. Francia with Reuters

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