PSE Index Up a Bit on Bargain Hunting

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index went up slightly today on bargain hunting, finishing the day at 5,953.16 points, up by 19.40 points or 0.33 percent.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, October 28, 2025

However, pessimism lingered as corruption issues continued to weigh on sentiment, resulting in a 25 percent decline in total transactions to ₱4.6 billion.

Analysts pointed to the continuing decline in mining shares—even amid record-high gold prices—as proof of the market’s malaise.

The mining and oil sub-index slid 4.42 percent, as Philex Mining dropped 4.35 percent to ₱7.70, Apex Mining fell 1.77 percent to ₱8.90, and OceanaGold retreated 5.37 percent to ₱25.55.

Market pundits said the local market has been playing catch-up with regional peers due to the “ghost” flood-control projects scandal.

Investors shifted their funds into banking shares, buoyed by reported profit increases for the first nine months of the year. The financial sub-index rose 1.15 percent.

BDO Unibank, the most active stock with ₱577 million in trades, led the gains with a 2.67 percent climb to ₱134.50.

Also contributing were Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), up 1.46 percent to ₱104; Security Bank, up 0.44 percent to ₱68.55; and UnionBank, up 0.17 percent to ₱28.90. Metrobank, however, slipped 0.29 percent to ₱68.80.

In the industrial sector, Meralco dropped 0.87 percent to ₱570, and Universal Robina fell 2.19 percent to ₱71.40, offsetting gains in Manila Water, which rose 2.06 percent to ₱34.70, and SPNEC, up 1.69 percent to ₱1.20.

The industrial sub-index declined 0.27 percent, while holding firms edged up 0.05 percent.

Ayala Corp. rose 0.22 percent to ₱456, San Miguel Corp. gained 0.94 percent to ₱64.10, GT Capital slipped 0.72 percent, and SM Investments was steady at ₱730.

The services sector climbed 0.43 percent, driven by ICTSI (+0.93 percent to ₱540) and telco stocks PLDT (+0.54 percent to ₱1,110) and Globe Telecom (+0.35 percent to ₱1,450).

DigiPlus lost 0.99 percent to ₱20, while Converge dropped 0.47 percent to ₱12.24.

Property stocks were nearly flat, down 0.02 percent. Robinsons Land gained 0.55 percent to ₱14.68, and Megaworld rose 0.51 percent, offsetting a 0.96 percent decline in Ayala Land to ₱20.70.

There were 95 gainers, 94 losers, and 62 unchanged issues, including SM Prime, Cebu Air, ACEN Corp., PSE, Emperador, LT Group, and VistaREIT.

Net foreign selling totaled ₱432 million, with ₱2.296 billion in foreign buying and ₱2.729 billion in foreign selling.

Among the day’s gainers were UnionBank, JG Summit, Filinvest Land, Century Properties, Haus Talk, DoubleDragon, PhilWeb, Aboitiz Power, Basic Energy, First Gen, Petron, Synergy Grid, Topline, D&L Industries, Jollibee Foods, Monde Nissin, Vitarich, Alliance Global, and Vista Land.

Among the losers were PNB, China Bank, Citicore REIT, Semirara Mining, AgriNurture, Ginebra, The Keepers, Megawide, Integrated Micro, Aboitiz Equity, Cosco Capital, GMA Network, ABS-CBN, MacroAsia, Belle Corp., and Bloomberry.