Wall Street rally prompts bargain hunting

MANILA, Philippines - After a three-day slump, the stock market recovered yesterday, lifted by an overnight rally in Wall St.

“Wall St.’s strong overnight surge prodded brave bargain pickers to reposition especially after gauges broke below the 6,900 mark,” said Grace Cerdenia, research head at F. Yap Securities.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) went up 51.17 points, or 0.74 percent, to close at 6,942.47, while the broader All Shares index rose by 27.08 points or 0.69 percent to 3,976.59.

Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital advised investors to take a wait-and-see stance.

“Our tone in the recent days may easily be mistaken as bearish. To a certain extent, it may well be. Alternatively, it can be seen as a ‘weaker bull. Regardless of how one views our view, it is the basis for our current stance of wait-and-see,  he said.

He said it’s difficult at this point to expect earnings to push past expectations of slower economic growth.

Total value of stocks traded yesterday reached P7.608 billion as advancers outnumbered decliners, 106 to 54 while 35 stocks were unchanged.

Calaycay said a lot would really depend on how the economy moves.

“Yet another viewpoint presents a similar scenario – or at least issues the same warnings. A seven – year bull which extends to a 12 year secular bull is definitely ripe for a pause. Whether that pause will eventually usher in the bear or provide yet another platform for the bull depends on how the economy and other variables progress,” he said.