PSE Index Gains More Ground

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index gained further ground today, poised to reach another milestone level as it increased by 110.74 points, or 1.77 percent, to reach 6,374.68 points.

Photo Insert: The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, September 27, 2023

Investors eagerly bought oversold stocks, propelling the index into a significant rally after the market recess when it touched 6,300.11 points. This surge was driven by the reversal of losses in the property sector and significant advances in other sectors.

The session saw financials gaining 2.28 percent, up from just 0.38 percent at the market recess.

Industrials rose by 1.34 percent, holding firms by 1.78 percent, services by 1.25 percent, mining and oil by 0.58 percent, and property ended the day 1.17 percent higher after initially experiencing a 0.09 percent loss.

Market bellwether SM Investments led the charge among advancing shares, rising by 1.43 percent to P850, up by P12, with trades totaling P629 million, making it the second most actively traded stock.

Century Food, which recently entered the PSE index basket, gained 40 centavos to P29.70, an increase of 40 centavos, with trades amounting to P893.5 million, making it the most actively traded stock. SM Prime rose by 65 centavos to P31, marking a 2.14 percent advance with trades totaling P456 million.

BDO Unibank posted a substantial gain of 4.2 percent, reaching P141.50, up by P5.70, contributing to the banking sector's 2.28 percent gain. Bank of PI also rose by P1.50 to P112, while Metrobank increased by 80 centavos to P53.90.

Security Bank gained 75 centavos, reaching P78.25, and EastWest added 30 centavos, reaching P9.38. However, PNB lost 8 centavos, falling to P18.32, which market analysts attributed to issues related to the bank's purchases.

Total trades exceeded the average of P6.72 billion, with block trades amounting to P703 million, including two block trades involving Aboitiz Power worth P184 million.

There were 118 gainers, 74 losers, and 42 unchanged stocks.

Market analysts noted that net foreign selling continued to be a concern for bullish sentiment. Total foreign buying amounted to P3.07 billion, while foreign selling reached P3.37 billion, resulting in a net selling position of P301 million.

Among the gainers were Aboitiz Power, which increased by 4.55 percent to P34.50, a rise of P1.50; Ayala Corp, up by P13 to P626; Jollibee Foods, up by P1.80 to P228.80; ICTSI, up by P5.40 to P208.60; JG Summit, up by 85 centavos to P39; Aboitiz Equity, up by P2.10 to P48.20; Semirara Mining, up by 40 centavos to P35.40; Nickel Asia, up by 3 centavos to P5.40; and Converge, up by 11 centavos to P9.31.

Philex Mining fell by 2 centavos to P2.70, Bloomberry lost 38 centavos, falling to P10.62, Atlas Mining lost 2 centavos, reaching P3.10, Alliance Global decreased by 6 centavos to P12.44, Universal Robina dropped by 80 centavos to P118, while Global Ferronickel and Ayala Land remained unchanged at P2.65 and P29.50, respectively.

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