Bargain Hunting Lifts PSE Index but Doubts Remain

Bargain hunting lifted the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index by 38.98 points, or 0.67 percent, to 5,867.04 points, but doubts remain about the market’s potential.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, November 4, 2025

Analysts see the continuing protest actions over corruption issues dampening enthusiasm for stock market investments in the region’s laggard.

Trading performance was mixed, with hefty gains in services—up 0.12 percent—while financials and property rose 2.09 percent and 1.94 percent, respectively, accounting for the modest increase in the index.

Industrials fell 1.24 percent, holding firms dropped 0.07 percent, and mining and oil again posted declines despite speculation over gold prices.

Apex Mining slid 0.15 percent to P9, OceanaGold dropped 1.73 percent to P25.55, and Philex Mining fell 3.75 percent to P7.69.

Bargain hunting marked the market’s opening, with blue chips hitting recent highs only to shed their gains as trading wore on. ICTSI, the most active stock with P958 million in trades, climbed to a high of P539.50 before declining to P526 at the close, down 0.57 percent.

Meralco hit a high of P586 before closing 3.45 percent lower at P560, while JG Summit rose to P24.45 before ending 2.05 percent lower at P23.90. Market bellwether SM Investments reached a high of P727 before closing at P722, up 0.28 percent.

The PSE index hit an intraday high of 5,907.13 points before cascading lower as investors opted to take trading gains.

There was net foreign buying of P339 million, with total foreign purchases amounting to P3.804 billion against foreign selling of P3.464 billion.

Among the biggest gainers were banking stocks: BDO Unibank rose 3.29 percent to P132, Bank of the Philippine Islands gained 2.62 percent to P105.70, and Metrobank advanced 0.38 percent to P66.50.

Value turnover amounted to P6.369 billion, with 108 gainers, 83 losers, and 57 unchanged. Unchanged stocks included Petron, San Miguel Food and Beverage, Basic Energy, Security Bank, Monde Nissin, ABS-CBN, Dito CME, and Robinsons Land.

Among the gainers were DigiPlus, Ayala Land, SM Prime, GT Capital, ACEN Corp., San Miguel, Integrated Micro-Electronics, Citystate Bank, Alternergy, Aboitiz Power, Century Pacific Food, D&L Industries, and Ginebra San Miguel.

Also in the green were The Keepers Holdings, Universal Robina, Megawide, Concrete Aggregates, Steniel, Abacore, Ayala Corp., Megaworld, LT Group, Globe Telecom, PLDT, Converge ICT, Cebu Air, MacroAsia, Belle Corp., Bloomberry Resorts, Wilcon Depot, Atlas Mining, Philodrill, and Nickel Asia.

Among the losers were DMCI Holdings, RCBC, Manila Water, Semirara Mining, Filinvest REIT, Vista Land, VistaREIT, Puregold, Robinsons Retail, Topline, Emperador, Jollibee Foods, SPNEC, Citicore REIT, First Gen, PSE, DoubleDragon, and AREIT.