Bargain hunting continues to lift share prices

MANILA, Philippines — Stocks rose for the fourth straight trading day as the buying frenzy continued yesterday, with investors hunting for bargains upon learning more details on President Marcos’ plan of governance following his first press conference late Tuesday.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index or PSEi rose by 2.14 percent or 135.02 points to close at 6,445.01, while the broader All Shares index gained 44.20 points or 1.30 percent to end at 3,442.90.

With the exception of mining and oil, all the counters finished in positive territory, with holding firms and industrial chalking up the biggest gains.

Total value turnover improved as well to P5.322 billion. Market breadth was positive, 114 to 71, while 47 issues were unchanged.

Joseph Roxas, head of Eagle Equities, said bargain hunting kept the market strong yesterday.

There’s also growing optimism on the economy’s recovery with mobility restrictions continuously easing, Roxas added.

In the Market Call report, published by the First Metro Investment Corp. and UA&P Capital Markets Research, it said “there may be further consolidation of the PSEi closer to 6,000, but robust support above suggests that the local equities may still avoid a bear market.”

The strong economic team put up by President Marcos also provided some needed comfort to investors, it said.

Shares were also buoyed by the central bank governor’s announcement that it may raise interest rates by an additional 100 basis points this year after data on Tuesday showed annual inflation hit a near four-year high in June.

Around Asia, shares were mostly lower after tepid trading on Wall Street amid worries about a global recession.

Major benchmarks fell across Asia. Oil prices recouped some lost ground. Analysts said markets were focusing on a variety of risks, including inflation, oil prices, moves by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks on interest rates, political developments in Britain and worries over COVID-19.