By Arra B. Francia, Senior Reporter

THE MAIN INDEX clawed its way back to the 7,700 level on Tuesday as foreign investors slowed their selling spree.

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) jumped 0.8% or 61.42 points to close at 7,721.56 yesterday, marking its third straight consecutive uptick. The broader all-shares index likewise rose 0.73% or 34.74 points to close at 4,782.14 on Tuesday.

“The PSEi continued its rally… Strength may have been driven by momentum from the previous days, as well as relatively smaller net foreign selling of only P328 million from the near P1 billion print the past few days,” Papa Securities Corp. Sales Associate Gabriel Jose F. Perez said in an e-mail.

Net foreign outflows narrowed to P327.80 million on Tuesday against Monday’s P879.56 million.

“Resistance level moving into the week would be at the 7,800 level. The rally so far has been on relatively low volume with net foreign selling so we look to that level,” Mr. Perez added.

Meanwhile, Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan attributed the increase to investors pouring their funds into the country amid tensions abroad.

“Investors turned their buying efforts to the Philippines with Huawei saga rolling through the tech sector and trade retaliation fears rising,” Mr. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message.

Reuters reported that Google has suspended business with Chinese tech giant Huawei and limited its access to its Android software. This comes amid the United States government’s efforts to blacklist Huawei globally.

Huawei was also reported to be readying the launch of a mobile phone operating system following its limited access to Android.

Tensions between the US and China prompted another sell-off in Wall Street indices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.33% or 84.10 points to 25,679.90. The S&P 500 index shed 0.67% or 19.30 points to 2,840.23, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 1.46% or 113.91 points to 7,702.38.

Asian indices were mixed, as Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.14% or 29.28 points to 21,272.45; the Shanghai Composite index jumped 1.23% or 35.37 points to 2,905.97; and the Hang Seng index retreated 0.47% or 130.37 points to 27,657.24.

All sectoral indices moved to positive territory back home, led by industrials which soared 2.51% or 278.19 points to 11,346.27. Mining and oil advanced 1.07% or 77.41 points to 7,309.86; holding firms increased 0.75% or 54.07 points to 7,215.37; property firmed up 0.49% or 20.72 points to 4,196.02; financials went up 0.47% or 8.21 points to 1,723.61, while services added 0.11% or 1.92 points to 1,653.82.

Value turnover improved to P5.41 billion after some 750.24 million issues switched hands, against the previous session’s P4.88 billion.

Advancers slightly outpaced decliners, 97 to 94, while 45 names were unchanged.

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