PSEi closes higher for a 4th straight week

THE local stock market on Friday closed on a positive note, rising for a fourth straight week.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange added 0.77% or 59.84 points to close at 7,819.39. The broader all-shares index rose 0.51% or 23.61 points to end the day at 4,668.29.
“Our index tracked the positive performance in the Western markets as earnings of many stocks beat estimates and the upbeat statement from the US Fed buoyed US market sentiment about the country’s strong economy,” Timson Securities, Inc. trader Jervin S. De Celis said in a mobile message yesterday.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, saying “the (United States) labor market has continued to strengthen and economic activity has been rising at a strong rate.”
Harry G. Liu, Summit Securities, Inc. president, said the stock market may soon enter the consolidation phase.
“Economic fundamentals are finally falling into place with government’s positive projections this year and next year,” Mr. Liu said in a phone interview.
However, investors may find the upward trend difficult to sustain as trading activity usually thins out in August, known as the “ghost month.”
For Mr. Liu, support is at 7,200 while resistance is at 7,800.
All sectoral indices, except for property, ended in the green.
Financials were up 1.40% or 26.07 points to close at 1,885.01, while holding firms rose 1.34% or 103.82 points to 7,849.96.
Mining and oil jumped 1.19% or 120.97 points to 10,298.05 points; services went up 0.40% or 5.92 points to 1,504.86 points; and industrial edged higher by 0.16% or 17.04 points to 10,919.13.
Property ended in negative territory, dropping 0.55% or 20.70 points to 3,769.21.
Value turnover rose P5.72 billion from Thursday’s P4.93 billion after some 1.72 billion issues switched hands.
Advancers outpaced decliners, 120 to 76, while 46 issues remained unchanged. — Janina C. Lim