Philippine stocks rebound as players buy the dip

PHILIPPINE STOCKS rebounded on Thursday, with the index returning above the 6,300 line and logging a new five-month high, as investors bought bargains following Wednesday’s drop.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) went up by 0.45% or 28.58 points to end at 6,320.67, while the broader all shares index increased by 0.37% or 13.46 points to 3,607.65.

This was the main index’s best finish in nearly five months or since it ended at 6,325.09 on Aug. 13.

“The PSEi ended higher as investors bought at lower prices after yesterday’s (Wednesday) decline, taking advantage of market dip,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message. The index closed lower at 6,292.09 on Wednesday on profit taking after a three-day rally.

“Buying pressure remained intact despite unemployment data and the peso hitting an all-time low against the US dollar. Investors remained cautious but optimistic amid softer economic data.”

The Philippines’ unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in November from 3.2% a year earlier, according to the preliminary results of the labor force survey released on Wednesday. However, this was lower than 5% in October.

This translated to about 2.25 million jobless Filipinos, compared with 1.66 million in November 2024 and 2.54 million in the previous month.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the peso plunged to a new record low of P59.355. It recovered to P59.17 on Thursday.

“The local market rose as investors resumed their bargain hunting, with hopes pinned on another possible rate cut by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in their February meeting,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Manager Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.

BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. said on Tuesday that they could consider another cut at next month’s meeting, but noted that the current policy rate is already “very close” to where they want it to be, signaling that their easing cycle is about to end.

The BSP has cut rates by a cumulative 200 basis points since August 2024.

Sectoral closed mixed on Thursday. Mining and oil sank by 1.24% or 203.27 points to 16,186.65; financials dropped by 1.15% or 24.72 points to 2,119.63; and industrials fell by 0.39% or 35.89 points to 9,081.48.

Meanwhile, services jumped by 2.96% or 72.78 points to 2,528.68; holding firms went up by 0.29% or 14.75 points to 4,972.14; and property climbed by 0.28% or 6.50 points to 2,316.56.

Advancers beat decliners, 118 to 94, while 49 names closed unchanged.

Value turnover went down to P6.22 billion on Thursday with 1.11 billion shares traded from the P7.29 billion with 772.34 million issues that changed hands on Wednesday.

Net foreign buying dropped to P56.24 million from P201.88 million. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno