By Denise A. Valdez, Senior Reporter

THE MAIN INDEX ended Tuesday’s trading with some gains on the back of bargain hunting ahead of the US election.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) grew 11.56 points or 0.18% to end the session at 6,335.56. The wider all shares index added 9.90 points or 0.26% to close at 3,789.47. The index hit a low of 6,250.87 intraday but picked up over the course of trading to reach a high of 6,358.42.

“The PSEi ended slightly higher after opening much lower as investors were quick to pick up battered shares,” AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in an e-mail. “Gains in small and mid-cap blue chips covered losses from large-cap issues.”

“Optimism may have been drawn from the limited damage caused by the recent super typhoon which was expected to be a major disaster, similar to what we saw a few years ago,” Mr. Mangun said, referring to Typhoon Rolly.

While the calamity spared Metro Manila from destruction, the Agriculture department estimated some P1.75 billion in agricultural damage left by Typhoon Rolly after hitting Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, and Eastern Visayas. This damage remains “minimal,” it said, as most of the crops have already been harvested.

Aside from local events, market movement on Tuesday was also driven by international headlines, Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said.

“Philippine shares closed marginally higher ahead of the much anticipated US election, and as markets continue to monitor rising COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) cases and a stream of corporate earnings results,” Mr. Limlingan said in a mobile message.

US markets were up on Monday’s trading, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices growing 1.60%, 1.23% and 0.42%, respectively.

The PSE was closed on Monday in observance of All Souls’ Day.

“The market may continue to move higher as investors gain more optimism of a strong economic rebound in the fourth quarter,” Mr. Mangun said.

Nearly all sectoral indices at the PSE ended Tuesday’s trading with gains. Financials picked up 17.32 points or 1.41% to 1,241.62; industrials improved 96.84 points or 1.14% to 8,557.70; mining and oil increased 56.23 points or 0.74% to 7,585.70; holding firms rose 25.45 points or 0.38% to 6,606.81; and services climbed 3.30 points or 0.22% to 1,442.74.

Property was the only declining index, losing 34.46 points or 1.12% to 3,019.36 at the close of trading.

Value turnover on Tuesday stood at P6.6 billion with 4.2 billion issues switching hands, down from the last session’s P7.29 billion with 2.38 billion issues.

Advancers outnumbered decliners, 125 against 80. Some 47 names ended unchanged.

Net foreign selling was trimmed to P1.14 billion from P1.2 billion in the previous session.

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