PSE Index Recovers In Roller-Coaster Ride To Rise A Bit

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index edged up slightly today, closing at 6,879.59 points, up by 7.35 points or 0.11%.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, March 12, 2024

It was a roller-coaster ride, with the services sub-index saving the day for the market as the other sectors posted small gains.

PLDT emerged as the most active stock with P753 million, driving the services sector to a 2.04% surge as its stock price in the US market increased. Coupled with the rise in port giant ICTSI and Globe Telecom, the PSE index weathered the volatile trading activity that saw market bellwether SM Investments declining.

Financials decreased by 1.08%, industrial by 0.07%, while holding firms rose slightly by 0.13%. Property increased by 0.11%, and mining and oil by 0.03%.

Second-liner Premium Leisure Corp., which will be acquired by Belle Corp, reached a new high of P0.80, up by 6 centavos after opening at P0.89. The issue, which owns the City of Dreams casino, is due for voluntary delisting when Belle ends up owning it.

However, Belle declined by 12 centavos to P1.80 after hitting a high of P2.50 on profit taking.

Value turnover amounted to P5.3 billion with 109 gainers, 72 losers, and 54 shares unchanged. Foreign buying amounted to P2.625 billion, while foreign selling reached P2.276 billion, resulting in a net buying of P348 million. Net foreign buying in PLDT amounted to P317 million out of its total trade of P753 million.

Among the gainers were PX, which rose on the increase in gold prices to $2,200 per ounce, Nickel Asia, Metrobank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, GT Capital, JG Summit, LT Group, Digiplus, AgriNurture, SMC Food and Beverage, Abacore Capital, Aboitiz Equity, Dito CME, Cebu Air, PAL, Meralco, Manila Water, Aboitiz Power, Meralco, and First Gen.

The losers included ACEN Corp., Ayala Corp., BDO Unibank, Converge, Apex Mining, San Miguel, Top Frontier, Security Bank, PNB, Union Bank, Megawide, Emperador, and Synergy Grid.

Those unchanged were Bloomberry, Ayala Land, SPNEC, Megaworld, SM Prime, and Axelum.

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