Index rebounds on bargain hunting

MANILA, Philippines - Local stocks rebounded yesterday from a two-day slump as bargain hunting pushed the bellwether index back into positive territory.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed 0.71 percent or 50.77 points to close at 7,247.03, while the broader all shares also gained 0.63 percent or 26.57 points to 4,277.09.

“Bargain hunting kicked in from Thursday’s decline. It was a sharp decline that saw the index fell below the support level of 7,200,” said Joyce Ramos, analyst at AB Capital Securities Inc.

Ramos said financial firms did the heavy lifting of the index yesterday, as all counters ended in the green.

The financials counter picked up 1.17 percent or 19.75 points followed by mining and oil firms which added 1.03 percent or 170.57 points.

BDO Unibank Inc.’s share prices went up 3.02 percent while Bank of the Philippine Islands likewise grew by 1.90 percent.  

Market breadth was positive as advancers beat decliners, 96 to 68, while 49 stocks were unchanged.

The value of shares traded dropped to P8.92 billion from P9.41 billion the previous day.

US stocks were mixed, as the S&P 500 ended flat, the Nasdaq gained 0.18 percent or 8.11 points, and the Dow lost 0.02 percent or 3.66 points.