Index recovers on regional upswing

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market recovered slightly in line with the recovery in the region, but was still unable to breach the 7,500 mark.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed at 7,497.17, up 27.03 points, or 0.36 percent, while the broader All Shares index was up 16.98 points, or 0.37 percent, to finish at 4,588.29.

The rest of the counters likewise closed in positive territory except for the industrial index which ended in the red.

Total value turnover, meanwhile, reached P17.2 billion. Advancing stocks numbered 102 while decliners numbered 101. Forty one issues were left unchanged.

Commenting on yesterday’s trading, Papa Securities trader Gio Perez said the PSEi ended the day with a P17.2 billion value turnover on the back of the MSCI rebalancing.

“The bulk of the trades actually happened at the close as value turnover was only around P5 billion at the 3 p.m. mark. Various issues were either sold down or bought up at the close however, leading the PSEi to end the day flat with only a 27 point gain at 7,497.17,” he said.

SM Prime ended the day flat with the largest value turnover and net foreign buying of the day of P3.8 billion and P586.2 million with its upweight in the MSCI.

Perez said Robinsons Land was the clear winner as it ended the day with the largest gain in the index  (+10 percent) after being bought up at the close. RLC also had the second highest net foreign buying of the day of P165.5 million.