PSE Index Gets Boost From Bargain Hunting

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index experienced an uptick today due to bargain hunting, following a 1.43 percent gain in the US market.

Photo Insert: The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, November 15, 2023

Market bellwether SM Investments led the market upswing, emerging as the most active stock with P905 million in trades, accounting for a fifth of the value turnover. This pushed the index to 6,171.13 points, up by 60.25 points or 0.99 percent.

SM, a favorite among foreign investors, opened at P825, experienced fluctuations, reached a high of P843 after a low of P820, and closed the day with a P14 gain at P839, up by 1.7 percent.

As a result, holding firms rose by 1.33 percent, with Ayala Corp up by P11 to P631, JG Summit up by 80 centavos to P39, GT Capital up by P16 to P564, and Alliance Global up by 10 centavos to P10.60.

Aboitiz Equity was down by 35 centavos to P47.75.

Industrials was the only loser among the sub-indices, down by a marginal 0.07 percent. The losses from Meralco (down by P3 to P360), First Gen (down by 2 centavos to P18.18), and Manila Water (down by 16 centavos to P17.24) were offset by the rise in Aboitiz Power, which closed at P36, up by 80 centavos.

Financials gained 0.37 percent, services by 1.19 percent, mining and oil by 0.39 percent, and property by 1.48 percent.

Total trades amounted to P4.5 billion, with 84 gainers, 84 losers, and 47 shares unchanged. Foreign investors were net sellers again, totaling P147 million on foreign buying of P2.66 billion and foreign selling of P2.808 billion.

Analysts noted that the market volume, which dropped to under P2 billion, is expected to have trades of about P4 billion due to the lack of catalysts in the local market, which recently allowed short selling with no takers so far due to trading mechanics problems.

Among the gainers were BDO Unibank, up by a peso to P130.50; Ayala Land, up by 20 centavos to P29.50; SM Prime, up by 75 centavos to P31.70; ICTSI, up by P5.40 to P208.80; Universal Robina, up by P11 to P631; LT Group, up by 4 centavos to P9.17; and Robinsons Land, up by 38 centavos to P14.58.

Also up were ACEN Corp, which rose by 9 centavos to P5.10; Bloomberry, up by 23 centavos to P9.53; Monde Nissin, up by 6 centavos to P8.25; Security Bank, up by P1.25 to P71.90; NickelAsia, up by 8 centavos to P5.20; Philex Mining, up by 6 centavos to P2.56; and Megaworld, up by 1 centavo to P2.02.

The losers included Jollibee Foods, down by a peso to P217; Globe Telecom, down by P4 to P1,762; PLDT, down by P9 to P1,230; and Dito CME, which went down by a hefty 5.41 percent on its report of a third-quarter loss of P9.77 billion to finish at P2.45, a loss of 14 centavos.

Bank of PI and Atlas Mining were respectively unchanged at P104 and P3.

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