PSEi ekes out gains despite foreign selling

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market opened the week on a positive note with the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Composite index (PSEi) closing 18.27 points higher, or 0.29 percent, at 6,183.62.

The broader All Shares index rose 8.34 points or 0.25 percent to close at 3,348.46.

AB Capital Securities said the PSE index continued its modest rally yesterday even as foreign outflows continued as concerns over rising inflation and a weaker peso persisted.

Foreigners were net sellers yesterday with net outflows amounting to P613.26 million.

The sectoral gauges were a mixed bag with financials, holding firms and industrial counters closing in positive territory while mining and oil, property and services ending in the red.

Total value turnover was thin at P3.8 billion. Market breadth was negative with 111 losers against 69 gainers, while 50 issues were unchanged.

Active stocks were led by telco giant PLDT which closed at P1,729 per share, up 3.53 percent; followed by Converge ICT which rose 5.01 percent to P22 per share; BDO which ended at P115.50 per share, up 3.30 percent; SM Prime Holdings which was down 0.69 percent to close at P36.05 per share; SM Investments Corp. which closed at P800 per share and Ayala Land Inc which was down 1.15 percent to close at P25.70 per share.

Newly listed CTS Global said that as part of its post-IPO expansion rollout, the company would venture into the Indonesian Stock Market with an initial fund disbursement into Bank Central Asia (BCA) Indonesia.

This is one of the strategies for CTS Global to reach its long-term target of getting more revenues from global trading. For the first quarter of 2022, 43 percent of total proprietary trading revenues came from global markets.

“The long-term goal for CTS is to derive 75 percent of its revenues from the global markets. We have world-class traders that are more than capable and now that we have capital in our arsenal, it’s time to expand into markets like Indonesia,” said CTS Global CEO Lawrence Lee.