PSE INDEX RISES A BIT

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index went up a bit as the market continues to wrestle with the lack of catalysts to propel it beyond another milestone level, with the local investors crowding out the foreign players again in another hefty trading that saw blue chips with rising share prices.

The second liners again held sway to push the index up closing at its high mark, rising by 44.29 points or 0.65 percent up to 6,903.75 points.

Advancers were ahead of decliners 123 to 99 shares with 43 unchanged, as the second liners continued to have robust trades to occupy the top 20 most active stocks.

They were bannered by Ayala Energy, which had P1.03 billion in value turnover as it declined by 53 centavos to P7.21, followed by Dito CME, with P697 million in trades, as it rose by 45 centavos to P13.98.

Total trade amounted to P10.4 billion, the average turnover last January as against the P7 billion in trades a year before, in what the PSE management said was the continuing entry of locals into the stock market scene.

Converge, the latest IPO which bombed during its listing debut, went up by 86 centavos to P17.36, its highest close since it started trading at below its P16 plus offering.

The company eked out the gain despite a foreign selling of P56 million out of the total foreign selling of P4.662 billion.

Food giant Jollibee Foods, also buckling under foreign selling pressure of P61 million, closed unchanged at P180, like Basic Energy, which closed unchanged too at P1.12.

Market bellwether SM Investments benefitted from foreign buying of P75 million out of total foreign buys of P4.191 billion, to close the day at P1,033, up by P23, while BDO Unibank rose by P1.30 to P106.50.

Apollo Global was also in the top 20 most active stocks with trades of P217 million, as it ended lower by P0.003 to P0.209. Another second liner, Abra Mining, went up by P0.0001 to P0.0059.

Holding firms accounted for the biggest rise among the four sub-sectors that went up, as it closed 1.22 percent higher. Mining and oil was up by 0.15 percent, financials, 0.39 percent and property, 0.50 percent.

The losers were industrials, down 0.21 percent and services, down 0.14 percent.

Metrobank and Bank of PI rose respectively by 55 centavos to P46.75 and 20 centavos to P83.

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