Stocks climb out of 8-month lows

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market put an end to its recent bleeding as bargain hunters stepped in late in the session.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index or PSEi returned above the 6,800 mark, rising 1.21 percent or 81.65 points to close at 6,802.73, climbing out of eight-month lows to lead emerging markets in Asia.

The broader All Shares index followed the bandwagon as it added 0.50 percent or 18.16 points to settle at 3,614.99.

“Investors reverted to bargain hunting after the holiday following two successive days of the US trading in the green. US equities closed up for two straight days ahead of the anticipated Fed decision on Wednesday,” said Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital.

Decliners, however, pummeled advancers, 124 to 64, while 54 stocks were unchanged.

Value turnover stood at P6.92 billion.

“Local shares staged a last-minute comeback after losing more than 90 points early in the session. Bargain hunting on battered heavyweights like SMPH, BPI and URC buoyed the index back to positive territory,” AB Capital Securities said in a commentary.

Strength in consumer-focused and utilities stocks drove the benchmark index   higher, with investors also awaiting the country’s inflation data on Thursday.

A Reuters poll shows that inflation in April is expected to come in at 4.6 percent, within the central bank’s estimate range of 4.2 to five percent.

Last week, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said the central bank, which has kept interest rates at a record low of two percent since November 2020, would consider hiking rates at its policy meeting in June to keep inflation in control.

“The BSP Governor has remained steadfast in his guidance to keep rates unchanged to support the economy recovery but he has recently signaled he would be open to hiking by June to curtail inflation,” said Nicholas Mapa, senior economist for the Philippines at ING.