PSE Index Up Marginally

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index today rose marginally after bargain-hunting episodes as it went down a milestone level to close higher at 6,622.61 points, up by 21.87 points or 0.33 percent.

Photo Insert: The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, May 9, 2023

Value turnover was just at P3,9 billion, a third lower than the daily average indicating that investors continue to be on the sidelines absent a remarkable economic story that would turn the tide for a bullish sentiment that had long been predicted for the market. The sideways bias for the PSE index had worried investors as trades were confined almost to day trades.

Second and third liners were traded but in small trades and the gainers' column included transactions that were below P40,000 and with some below P10,000.

For instance, in the gainers' column, the B shares of Concrete Aggregates went up by 47.48 percent as it rose by P13.20 to P41 on trades of P37,110, while the second biggest gainer was Macay Holdings with trades worth P25,022 as it went up by 17.38 percent to P6.22, up by 92 centavos.

The third gainer was Anchor Land with P31,129 in trades as it went up by 10.23 percent to P5.71, an increase of 53 centavos.

There were 73 gainers and 86 losers with 70 shares unchanged with property up by 0.87 percent, holding firms by 0.74 percent, industrials by 0.06 percent, and mining and oil by 0.54 percent while services lost 0.66 percent, and financials by 0.30 percent.

Market bellwether SM Investments rose by P15 to P935 on trades of P373.1 million, the second most active share. BDO Unibank was the day's most active with trades of P402 million as its shares lost 90 centavos to P136.10 while in third was SM Prime which gained 70 centavos to P34 on trades of P368 million.

The index went down to a low of 6,594.45 points as selling pressure picked up midway through trading. Opening at 6,615.73 points, it saw a high of 6,646.58 points before scouring the bottom until bargain hunters pushed back the share prices.

Among the gainers were Ayala Corp. up, by P2 to P661.50, Universal Robina, up by P3.10 to P153.90, PLDT, up by P7 to P1,207, Metro Pacific, up by 1 centavo to P4.44, GT Capital, up by P4 to P483, Meralco, up by P4 to P334, and Apex Mining up by 9 centavos to P3.04.

Among the losers in the Top 20 most active stocks were ICTSI, down by P3.60 to P206.40, Ayala Land, down by 10 centavos to P26.80, Bank of PI, down by 10 centavos to P105, Wilcon Depot, down by 35 centavos to P26.85, DNL Industries, down by 33 centavos to P7.55, and AgriNurture, down by 12 centavos to P7.38.

The remaining losers were Metrobank, down by 35 centavos to P59.95, Monde Nissin, down by 35 centavos to P9.50 and and DM Consunji, down 28 centavos to P9.52.

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