PSE Index Up on Bargain Hunting

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index rose 39.75 points, or 0.63%, to 6,366.64, on Wednesday as investors engaged in bargain hunting.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, August 12, 2026

Only the services sub-sector declined, falling 1.36%, as market favorite ICTSI dropped 1.61% to ₱980, with trades worth ₱1.02 billion.

Holding firms posted the biggest gain, advancing 2.32%, as market bellwether SM Investments climbed 2.66% to ₱618 and GT Capital rose 3.03%. Financials gained 1.87%, industrials 0.13%, mining and oil 1.25%, and property 0.74%.

First Gen was among the day's biggest gainers, surging 28.40% following news that San Miguel Corp. President and CEO Ramon Ang was acquiring the 25.68% stake in Lopez Inc. held by the family branch of former ABS-CBN chairman Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III.

The news also lifted ABS-CBN shares.

Banking stocks also advanced on bargain hunting, with BDO Unibank, Bank of the Philippine Islands and Metrobank closing higher. Megawide rose 1.10% to ₱4.58, while PhilWeb gained 5.65% to ₱14.58.

Converge declined 9.98% as it was removed from the PSE index, while Maynilad gained 0.88% to ₱18.30 following the rebalancing of the index basket.

Value turnover reached ₱17.6 billion, including a reported ₱11 million block sale of Robinsons Retail as the Gokongwei family moved to take the company private.

Foreign trades amounted to ₱6.8 billion, with net foreign buying of ₱13 million. Foreign buying reached ₱3.455 billion, while foreign selling totalled ₱3.441 billion.

Market breadth was positive, with 111 gainers, 84 losers and 49 unchanged issues.