By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
SHARES ended the week on a positive note, with foreign investors returning to the local bourse as US markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index found itself back to the 7,300 level on Friday, after advancing 0.99% or 71.80 points to close at 7,340.18. The broader all shares index likewise gained 0.78% or 33.95 points to 4,409.23.
“Investors took advantage of minimal developments from the US to buy up the index constituents and end the week on a rather positive note. This was despite rather slow news from other markets,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message.
Financial markets were closed in the United States for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Asian indices ended mixed, weighed down by the trade war between the US and China. Chinese officials said on Friday that mutual respect will be key when US President Donald J. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet at the G20 Summit in Argentina, adding that they look forward to the meeting “being held smoothly.”
Meanwhile, P2P Trade Online Sales Associate Gabriel Jose F. Perez attributed the stock market’s positive performance to higher net foreign selling figure of P9.48 billion, including the P9-billion block sale in Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. (RRHI).
The block sale in RRHI was due to the completion of its P18-billion share swap transaction to acquire 100% of Rustan Supercenters, Inc from Mulgrave Corporation B.V. (MCBV). MCBV is a wholly-owned unit of Dairy Farm International Holdings, Ltd. Group of Companies.
The acquisition is in line with RRHI’s plan to partner with Dairy Farm to establish a food retail business.
Without RRHI’s block sale, net foreign inflows would have stood at P437 million, according to Mr. Perez, still higher than the previous session’s P224.06 million net purchases.
“With the index’s strong close today, it’s effectively broken out of its recent sideways channel,” Mr. Perez said in an email.
All sectoral indices moved to green territory locally, with the property counter logging the most gains at 2.36% or 82.25 points to 3,574.16. Mining and oil surged 1.83% or 150.68 points to 8,372.96, followed by financials which rose 1.75% or 29.91 points to 1,739.19. Industrial climbed 0.62% or 66.88 points to 10,783.64; services went up 0.45% or 6.19 points to 1,398.47; while holding firms added 0.008% or 0.57 points to 7,149.59.
Some 920.71 million issues switched hands valued at P14.77 billion, swelling from the previous session’s P5.4 billion.
Advancers trumped decliners, 108 to 74, while 46 names remained unchanged.

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