PSE Index Starts New Month Strong In Near Milestone

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index started August on a strong note, with all sub-indices posting gains by the close of trading.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, August 1, 2024

After momentarily flashing mixed signals, the index ended the day just shy of the next milestone, closing at 6,693.83 points—up by 74.74 points or 1.13%.

It was another day of ebb and flow for the market, with the index initially dipping to a dangerously low 6,619.70 before gradually rising to close at its highest point of the day. 

Financials led the significant August upswing, increasing by 2.75%, driven by a substantial rise in BDO Unibank, the second most active stock, which saw a 4.89% price increase to P143.70, up by P6.70.

The Services sector rose by 1.23%, with gains from port operator ICTSI, Globe Telecom, PLDT, and DigiPlus, the latter once again reaching a new price high. 

Other sectors also posted gains: Industrials were up by 0.06%, Holding Firms by 0.31%, Mining and Oil by 1.70%, and Property by 1.35%.

However, value turnover was muted at just P4.3 billion, while foreign buying amounted to P2.103 billion and foreign selling reached P2.146 billion, resulting in net foreign selling of P42 million.

There were 104 gainers, 75 losers, and 50 shares that remained unchanged. Market bellwether SM Investments succumbed to the roller-coaster ride in the market, closing a peso lower at P907, despite reaching a high of P925 earlier in the day. 

Other losers included Ayala Land, Metrobank, PNB, Union Bank, First Gen, Manila Water, Petron, Emperador, Ginebra, Roxas and Co., Universal Robina, Abacore, Megawide, San Miguel, DoubleDragon, Wilcon Depot, Atlas Mining, Dito CME, and Bloomberry.

Unchanged stocks were ACEN Corp, Meralco, ABS-CBN, Puregold, PAL, Figaro Coffee, Cosco Capital, and PAL.

Among the gainers were Bank of the Philippine Islands, Areit RT, GT Capital, Aboitiz Power, Alternergy, Citicore RE, Semirara Mining, SPNEC, Cebu Air, Nickel Asia, SSI Group, Apex Mining, OceanaGold, Philex Mining, PXP Energy, China Bank, SM Prime, Monde Nissin, Century Pacific Food, D&L Industries, Jollibee Foods, Greenergy, Megaworld, LT Group, Converge, Security Bank, Phil. Seven, Alliance Global, and DMCI Holdings.