PSE Index Up Slightly on Gold Surge

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index rose slightly Monday, lifted by a surge in gold prices that propelled the Mining and Oil Index to a hefty gain.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, April 21, 2025

This offset losses in four other sectoral indices, allowing the main index to close up by 3.38 points, or 0.06 percent, at 6,138.00.

Index-heavy Holding Firms and Services lost 0.08 percent and 0.58 percent, respectively, while Industrials declined by 0.60 percent and Property slipped by 0.19 percent. Financials rose by 1.44 percent, buoyed by Bank of the Philippine Islands, which climbed 2.35 percent on reports of ₱16 billion in first-quarter earnings.

Mining stocks outperformed, with Apex Mining surging 10.32 percent to ₱6.95, a gain of 65 centavos, placing it among the day’s top gainers.

Other mining-related stocks also posted notable gains, including second-tier firms Manila Mining and Lepanto Mining (A and B shares), as well as Philex Mining, Atlas Mining, and OceanaGold.

The record surge in gold prices, with forecasts of a new high of USD 4,000 per ounce, triggered speculative buying in mining shares.

The index experienced another volatile session, hitting a low of 6,120.30 and a high of 6,152.38, amid investor concerns over Trump-era tariffs and geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and, closer to home, in the West Philippine Sea.

Trading remained sluggish, with total value turnover at ₱4.5 billion—about 25 percent below average.

Market breadth was negative, with 93 gainers, 109 losers, and 51 issues unchanged. Net foreign selling amounted to ₱46.8 million, with foreign buying at ₱2.303 billion and foreign selling at ₱2.360 billion.

Among the notable gainers were market bellwether SM Investments, top-traded BDO Unibank, Ayala Land, Century Pacific Food, Puregold, Integrated Microelectronics, China Bank, PNB, Union Bank, United Paragon, Monde Nissin, Vita Rich, Alliance Global, DoubleDragon, Cosco Capital, Megawide, and Aboitiz Equity Ventures.

Losers included SM Prime, Security Bank, National Reinsurance, Alternergy, Manila Water, Meralco, Universal Robina, PLDT, Globe Telecom, Converge, DITO CME, Bloomberry, Wilcon Depot, and Nickel Asia.

Unchanged stocks included ACEN Corp., Aboitiz Power, SPNEC, Ginebra San Miguel, AbaCore, DMCI Holdings, Haus Talk, GT Capital, Citicore REIT, Belle Corp., and Metro Retail.