PSEi advances on late buying in blue chips

MANILA, Philippines — Shares rebounded yesterday, tracking a rally on Wall Street, as investors picked up stocks of oversold blue chips.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 40.56 points or 0.56 percent to close at 7,252.10, while the broader All Shares index rose 19.68 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 4,456.52.

“Mark-on-close buying of battered index heavyweights lifted the market into positive territory, despite trading in the red for most of the day,” AB Capital Securities said in a market commentary.

Among the blue chip gainers were Ayala Corp., ICTSI, SM, Jollibee and AC Energy.

Trading was largely lackluster at the start until last minute-buying pushed the market in positive territory, traders said.

A total of P6.432 billion worth of shares changed hands yesterday, with decliners outpacing advancers, 110 to 89, while 52 issues were unchanged.

A host of factors including optimism on third quarter corporate earnings and the improving COVID-19 situation in the country -- with less than 5,000 new cases daily in recent days -- helped buoy sentiment.

Around Asia, shares likewise were mostly higher after another rally to a record high on Wall Street.

Stocks have been pushing broadly higher as companies turn in much stronger profit reports for the summer than analysts had expected. Historically low interest rates, along with strong corporate profit growth, have helped the S&P 500 more than double from the bottom it set in March 2020 in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Sentiments in Asia may largely mirror the stellar performance in Wall Street overnight, while the COVID-19 situation in China remains on watch with control measures being tightened,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG in Singapore.