PSE UP ; MERRY MART COMES DOWN TO EARTH

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) bucked today a looming decline 30 minutes before the close of trade to finish with a respectable 1.08 %  or 66.44 point rise to end the day at 6,348.45 points as market darling Merry Mart comes down to earth after another sizzling opening trade.

Merry Mart, which was the most active stock with value turnover of P1.647 billion, opened high at P4.50 from its close yesterday of P3.12 but as the trade progressed, it went into a free fall as investors cashed in their gains and ended the day at P2.75, down by 62 centavos or 18.40 %.

There was a marked selling activity towards the close of trade with the PSE index hitting a low of 6,203.25 points before nosing up on frenzied buying activity that recouped more than 140 points for a respectable finish  with 69 gainers, 124 losers  and 46 shares unchanged.

Value turnover hit P10.44 billion, with Merry Mart and SM Investments accounting for a total of P1.7 billion. Merry Mart raised P1.6 billion in its IPO offering meant to add 12 additional stores to its grocery business, among others.

SM Investments’ trading performance reflected the sense of the market today as it opened high, then went into a big decline before clawing back its early losses. SM opened P25 lower from its close yesterday  of P956, then dropped further to P925 before it went up to as high of P963,its closing price.

Another gainer was Jollibee Foods which closed P4.90 higher to P149.90 though it hit a low of P145, while one of the decliners was Emperador which lost 3 centavos to P8.09. The two were in the top actively traded stocks.

The drop in Merry Mart, market punters said, was due to its sizzling debut and the fact that its price earnings ratio did not reflect its prevailing price which was due to euphoria. Punters still have high hopes for the issue as it is only the second grocery chain to list on the exchange