Stocks bounce back on foreign buying

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market bounced back yesterday after two days of losses albeit small as it returned to positive territory.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index  gained 24.57 points, or 0.29 percent, to close at 8,258.05 while the broader All Shares gauge rose 7.44 points, or 0.14 percent, to end at 5,008.98.

Most indexes ended in the green with only the industrial and property sectors finishing in negative territory.

Total value turnover reached P5.601 billion. Market breadth was positive, 116 to 79 while 52 issues remained unchanged.

Chris Mangun of AAA Securities said the PSEi outperformed most of its Asian peers as markets ended lower, mirroring the performance of western markets in the last trading session on premature signs that the US-China trade war could hurt corporate earnings, which pushed some demand for US Treasuries.

He noted that foreign funds continued to pour in.

“The main index ended the day higher on below average trading volumes. Trading volumes were below average with turnover value at P5.13 billion almost the same as Wednesday. Foreign funds continue to flow in with net buying at P540.7 million,” Mangun said.

The PSEi is currently up 1.2 percent for the week and may end closer to 8,300 today if volumes continue to trickle in.

Market investors were also encouraged by the announcement of the Villar Group that it plans to list its home improvements chain AllHome in October in a P20.7 billion offering that could be the first initial public offering for 2019.