Local shares soar past 6,000-level as investors go bargain-hunting

MANILA, Philippines — Local shares shook off some rust as investors went bargain-hunting to lift the local bourse atop the 6,000-level on Tuesday. 

The Philippine Stock Exchange index soared 2.65% to finish at 6,128.64. The broader All Shares index raked in 1.72% to close in the green. All the sub-indices landed in positive territory, with property shares leading the haul as it surged 4.2%. 

Luis Limlingan, head of sales at local brokerage Regina Capital, said investors were on the lookout on Tuesday for bargain stocks. 

“Philippine shares rebounded above the 6,000 mark as investors turned bargain hunters and picked up badly beaten index names across the board,” he said in a Viber message. 

Hernan Segovia, trader at Summit Securities, agreed with Limlingan’s assessment and broke down why the market proved upbeat on Tuesday. 

“Probably the market is discounting the bad news that's been pestering the market for months like inflation, dollar on steroids. We've also seen how desperately bearish the sentiment was and saw an exuberant type of fear,” he said. 

In Segovia’s assessment, investors must have realized that “some quality names are ripe for the picking.” The local bourse found itself trading in bear territory, which happens when a market falls 20% from a recent peak, in past weeks following global recession fears. 

“The index is now above the bear line territory at 6,041 and for me, that is some kind of feat,” Segovia added. 

Rastine Mercado, research head at Chinabank Securities, noted that the local bourse took on the positive sentiment from markets elsewhere. 

“Apart from possible bargain-hunting, today's rally may be reflective of a temporary easing in selling pressure after recent onshore and offshore data releases led to sell-offs and volatility last week,” he said in an emailed commentary. 

Most Asian equities joined in on the fun, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, Bangkok, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Taipei, and Jakarta all enjoying a pick-up, though Shanghai dipped. 

Foreign investors bought P752.76 million more shares than they sold in the stock market. A total of million 351.7 million stocks, valued at P4.82 billion, switched hands on Tuesday. — with AFP