Main index climbs as investors pick up bargains

By Arra B. Francia, Senior Reporter

THE MAIN INDEX firmed up on Thursday, recovering from the previous session’s slump as investors went bargain hunting.

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (PSEi) rose 0.25% or 20.78 points to close at 8,051.76 after moving sideways for most of the session that saw it fall to the 7,900 level intraday. The broader all-shares index likewise climbed 0.13% or 6.44 points to 4,914.12.

“Investors (went) bargain-hunting after the holiday as the theme shifted to President Trump versus the Federal Reserve,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message.

Local investors were coming back from a holiday on Wednesday for the Philippine Independence Day. Meanwhile, news from overseas focused on US President Donald J. Trump’s statements against the Federal Reserve, as he criticized the central bank for hiking interest rates that supposedly helped China.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly called on the Fed to lower interest rates, calling its decision to raise the benchmark rates last December a “big mistake.”

Recently, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell hinted they will reduce interest rates sooner than expected, in response to the US economy’s potential slowdown because of its trade war with China.

Meanwhile, Papa Securities Corp. Sales Associate Gabriel Jose F. Perez attributed the market’s slow start to negative sentiment on Wall Street.

“The index surged in the afternoon after a bloody morning to close 20 points in the green at 8,051.76. Note that the index fell by as much as 77.7 points early on in the day, which may have been caused by US markets closing in the red last night,” Mr. Perez said in an e-mail.

Wall Street indices were mostly down overnight, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 0.17% or 43.68 points to 26,004.83. The S&P 500 index fell 0.20% or 5.88 points to 2,879.84, while the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 0.38% or 29.85 points to 7,792.72.

Back home, four sectoral indices moved to positive territory yesterday, led by services which gained 0.59% or 10.05 points to 1,697.47. Financials added 0.18% or 3.28 points to 1,735.23; industrials went up 0.15% or 17.78 points to 11,796.07; holding firms increased 0.12% or 9.24 points to close the session at 7,650.47.

In contrast, mining and oil plunged 2.06% or 149.35 points to 7,100.34, while property slipped 0.06% or 2.9 points to 4,369.63.

Foreign investors extended their net buying streak to a third day at P318.98 million, higher than the previous session’s P244.02 million.

Turnover was valued at P9.10 billion after some 993.50 million issues switched hands, higher than Tuesday’s P7.78 billion.

Decliners outpaced advancers, 104 to 82, while 52 names were unchanged.