PSEi jumps as investors pick up large-cap issues

THE MAIN INDEX jumped on Wednesday on selective buying of large-cap firms, as most investors remained on the sidelines due to lack of new leads.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed by 1.38% or 100.44 points to 7,333.73 Wednesday, July 11, extending the previous session’s gains. The broader all-shares index also rose 0.78% or 34.57 points to 4,448.01.
“The market is up now because investors were buying certain issues that have fundamentals… The last few weeks we have been supported by one of the major supports at 7,000, volume has been thinning out. The market is just waiting for a catalyst to jerk it up,” Summit Securities, Inc. President Harry G. Liu said in a phone interview Wednesday, July 11.
The day’s top gainers include index heavyweights Ayala Land, Inc., SM Investments Corp., and Bank of the Philippine Islands, which went up 2.05%, 4.15%, and 3.41%, respectively.
The PSEi reflected the positive sentiment in Wall Street overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 0.58% or 143.07 points to 24,919.66, followed by the S&P 500 index which added 0.35% or 9.67 points to 2,793.84. The Nasdaq Composite index was flat with an uptick of 0.04% or 3 points to 7,759.20.
The local market also managed to defy the weak performance of its regional counterparts, which mostly ended in the red as US President Donald J. Trump released a fresh list of tariffs for $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Wednesday as Washington warned of tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, escalating the trade dispute. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.5%.
“With the PSEi’s close at 7,333.73, the index is now only a few points away from its previous high of 7,348.42. We look forward to how US markets will perform tonight as futures have been week the entire day on this recent news,” Papa Securities Corp. trader Gabriel Jose F. Perez said in an e-mail.
Back home, all sectoral indices held their upward trajectory. Holding firms led the day’s jump with an increase of 2.06% or 146.04 points to 7,224.38. Property advanced 1.25% or 44.54 points to 3,601.27; mining and oil firmed up 1.09% or 105.21 points to 9,708.23; while services climbed 0.94% or 13.35 points to 1,432.43.
Financials likewise added 0.58% or 10.55 points to 1,806.51, while industrials ended 0.13% higher or 13.91 points to 10,313.41.
Foreign net sales slowed to P85.69 million on Wednesday from the previous session’s P509.92-million net outflow.
Some 852.34 million issues switched hands, resulting in a P5.16-billion turnover, higher than the previous session’s P5.06 billion.
Summit Securities’ Mr. Liu noted he expects the index to rally “very soon,” moving toward the 7,500 to 7,600 level depending on the time of the rally.
“We’re just looking at medium term up-move, and thereafter we still need a consolidation,” Mr. Liu said. — Arra B. Francia with Reuters