STOCKS rose on Monday on the back of bargain hunting following the sell-off seen on Friday and as more companies released their second quarter earnings results.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed 193.49 points or 3.06% to close at 6,513.68 on Monday, while the broader all shares index went up by 76.22 points or 1.91% to finish at 4,053.16.

“The local bourse jumped as investors conducted some bargain hunting activities after the heavy sell-off experienced last Friday,” Timson Securities, Inc. Trader Darren Blaine T. Pangan said in a Viber message.

“This is in line with the optimistic sentiment among some market participants over the ongoing release of positive corporate earnings reports for the first half of the year,” he added.

“Trading was tepid,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a separate Viber message. “This shows that many investors are staying on the sidelines due to the risks brought by our COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) situation on our economic and corporate outlook.”

Value turnover declined to P8.65 billion with 1.82 billion shares switching hands on Monday, from the P14.36 billion with 1.93 billion issues traded on Friday.

The Health department on Sunday reported 14,749 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s tally to 1,741,616. Active cases stood at 102,748.

The country also logged its first case of the Lambda variant of COVID-19. The new variant was first identified in Peru, with the World Health Organization tagging it as a “variant of interest.”

Detected in a 35-year-old female, the case was tagged by the Health department as recovered after going through a 10-day isolation period. She was said to be asymptomatic.

The Health department on Sunday said it is still validating whether the woman is a local or a returning overseas Filipino.

Majority of sectoral indices closed in the green on Monday except for mining and oil, which lost 91.62 points or 0.95% to end at 9,508.37.

Meanwhile, holding firms gained 273.47 points or 4.41% to 6,462.06; property rose by 85.80 points or 2.92% to 3,022.30; industrials climbed 267.99 points or 2.9% to 9,491.61; services improved by 43.71 points or 2.77% to finish at 1,616.93; and financials inched up by 3.95 points or 0.27% to close Monday’s session at 1,423.60.

Advancers narrowly beat decliners, 101 versus 98, while 41 names closed unchanged.

Foreigners turned sellers, logging P1.86 billion in net outflows versus the P259.73 million in net purchases recorded on Friday.

“As the week progresses, 6,270 seems to be the nearest support area, while 6,680 may be considered the immediate resistance level,” Timson Securities’ Mr. Pangan said. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

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