Index manages to climb on selective buying

MANILA, Philippines - Share prices went up slightly yesterday on selective buying, analysts said.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index(PSEi) closed 0.14 percent, or 10.72 points, higher to settle at 7,588.88, while the wider all shares index ended the day 0.23 percent, or 10.71 points, up at 4,542.81.

“Philippine markets were in a wait-and-see mode as centrist Emmanuel Macron took a big step toward the French presidency by winning the first round of voting and qualifying for the May 7 runoff alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Business Development head Luis Limlingan said.

“The outcome is a huge defeat for the two center-right and center-left groupings that have dominated French politics for 60 years, and also reduces the prospect of an anti-establishment shock on the scale of Britain’s vote last June to quit the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as US president,” Limlingan added.

A total of 58,570 trades valued at P5.15 billion were made, while volume turnover stood at 2.19 billion. Declines outnumbered advances 109 to 84, while 52 remained unchanged.