Stocks recover late but concerns linger

MANILA, Philippines — The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) went up by 40.58 points, or 0.51 percent to close at 7,889.41 due to last minute bargain hunting, analysts said.

Volume turnover totalled 1.08 billion shares valued at P8.16 billion. Foreign buying reached P3.99 billion, while foreign selling was at P4.52 billion for a net foreign selling of P540 million.

The broader All Shares index was flat at 4,770.38, up slightly by 0.27 percent or 13.23 points.

The sectoral gauges were a mixed bag with the property index still down on lingering concerns on the offshore gaming sector.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila called on the government to ban all online gaming, sending share prices of property companies which are the landlords of these so-called POGO or Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators tumbling.

In two separate statements, the Chinese government raised concerns on huge amounts of Chinese funds supposedly flowing into the Philippines through offshore gaming, adding that any form of gambling targeting Chinese citizens is illegal.

“These gambling entities targeting Chinese customers have severely affected the Chinese side in many aspects and are potentially breaking Chinese laws as it stressed that it is illegal to lure Chinese customers into gambling,” it said.