THE Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) started the week on a good note, following positive remarks from European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi and upward movements from big firms.

The benchmark index closed at 8,321.98, higher by 10.90 points or 0.13%, but the all-shares index dropped to 4,871.75, down 2.07 points or 0.04%.

Luis A. Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp., said the market may have been lifted by comments from ECB’s Mr. Draghi saying the Eurozone economy was robust, although economic recovery was still reliant on stimulus from the central bank.

“Perhaps some of the buy up was due to ECB Draghi’s speech. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in a speech in Frankfurt expressed confidence in the Eurozone’s economic recovery, saying the region is ‘in the midst of a solid economic expansion,’” Mr. Limlingan said in a text message yesterday.

“US stocks retreated last Friday as investors were concerned of economic growth, and market turned cautious ahead of Thanksgiving week. Philippine stocks however used the negative close of Wall St.’s leads for another strong performance today. The positive tone continued as traders looked to buy into the sentiment and low value turnover,” he added.

Jervin S. de Celis, equities trader at Timson Securities, Inc., said despite the market being up, it is still expected to move sideways in the next days while investors await economic data.

“While our market ended slightly up today led by SM (SM Investments Corp.), BDO [Unibank, Inc.] and BPI (Bank of the Philippine Islands), I think the index will continue to move sideways, probably between the range of 8,300-8,450 in the next 5-10 days as investors wait for a number of macroeconomic announcements from major economies that will be released this week,” Mr. De Celis said in a text message. These economic data include the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting minutes, US jobless claims, and Japanese trade data.

SM closed at P980 each, up 14.50 points or 1.50%; BDO at P148.70, up 2.50 or 1.71%; and BPI closed at P98.50 apiece, up 0.95 point or 0.97%.

Among the sectors, financials closed at 2,084.79, up 15.36 points or 0.74%; holding firms at 8,456.49, up 15.07 points or 0.17%; and mining and oil at 12,119.71, up 1.21 points or 0.01%.

Meanwhile, the other three indices were down. Industrial closed at 11,001.40, down 57.65 points or 0.52%; services at 1,640.19, down 13.32 points or 0.8%; and property at 3,865.20, down 1.20 points or 0.03%.

Value turnover stood at P5.6 billion, down slightly from Friday’s P5.63 billion, with 3.65 billion shares changing hands

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 122 to 80, while 42 remained unchanged.

Net foreign buying climbed to P294.42 million yesterday from Friday’s P199.55 million. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

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