PSEi rebounds as investors pick up blue chips

By Arra B. Francia, Senior Reporter

THE MAIN INDEX recovered on Wednesday as investors picked up heavyweight stocks oversold in the previous session.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) firmed up 1.29% or 100.12 points to close at 7,847.50, bouncing back from Tuesday’s losses. The broader all-shares index likewise jumped 0.89% or 42.01 points to 4,748.81.

“We saw some minor gains in blue chips that were sold off heavily yesterday. This allowed the main index to end higher today… The PSEi continues to trade within the range of 7,750 and 7,920 which may continue till the end of the month,” AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in e-mail on Wednesday.

Among the day’s top gainers were JG Summit Holdings, Inc. (up 3.69%), Universal Robina Corp. (up 1.96%), SM Investments Corp. (up 1.92%), Megaworld Corp. (up 4.16%), and Ayala Land, Inc. (up 1.06%).

“Philippine shares were bought up this time after being aggressively oversold [on Tuesday] as investors viewed the local market in a less volatile state than the rest of the region,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message.

The local bourse defied the weakness in international markets which were once again spooked by the yield curve inversion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 0.47% or 120.93 points to 25,777.90. The S&P 500 index dropped 0.32% or 9.22 points to 2,869.16, while the Nasdaq Composite index slipped 0.34% or 26.79 points to 7,826.95.

Asian indices were mixed, also weighed down by fears of the US recession and the trade war. The US confirmed that it will impose 10-15% additional tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods this Sunday, Sept. 1, in response to China’s decision to slap 5-10% more duties on $75 billion worth of American imports.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 went up 0.11% or 23.34 points to 20,479.42. The Shanghai Composite dipped 0.29% or 8.44 points to 2,893.76, while the Hang Seng index also slid 0.14% or 36.59 points to 25,627.48.

Back home, mining and oil was the lone counter that ended lower, dropping 0.15% or 12.38 points to close at 8,179.16.

The rest went up, led by holding firms which rose 2.06% or 157.01 points to 7,777.51. Property gained 1.38% or 54.45 points to 3,996.75; financials advanced 0.45% or 8.23 points to 1,800.32; industrials went up 0.34% or 37.22 points to 10,943.80, while services added 0.32% or 5.02 points to 1,573.16.

Advancers outpaced decliners, 118 to 83, while 47 names were unchanged.

Some 1.38 billion issues switched hands valued at P8.36 billion, lower than the previous session’s P13.47 billion.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the sixth straight session at P557.83 million, albeit lower than Tuesday’s P1.58 billion.