Stocks enter bull territory as PSEi hits 16-month high

MANILA, Philippines — The bulls came charging yesterday, successfully bringing the Philippine stock market into bull territory in less than a year.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index rallied by 223.47 points, or 2.74 percent, to close at 8,365.29.

Likewise, the broader All Shares index surged by 99.26 points, or 2.00 percent, to finish at 5,043.96.

Traders popped some champagne bottles and cheered with some like Lexter Azurin of AB Capital Group, tweeting, “Have a Happy Bull Market Day!”

The sectoral gauges rallied as well with the financials and holding firms leading the gains at 3.37 percent and 3.33 percent respectively.

Total value turnover was likewise robust at P8.511 billion as foreign funds all came rushing back for Philippine stocks.

Market breadth was positive, 124 to 62 in favor of advancing stocks. Fifty six issues were left unchanged.

Yesterday’s close was the highest since March 13, 2018 when the stock market gauge ended at 8419.56.

Early in the session, the market already hit bull territory or more than 20 percent since the PSEi’s Oct.11, 2018 close of 6,790 percent.

Christina Ulang, vice president af First Metro Investment Corp., said the rally was inspired by a confluence of positive domestic and external factors.