Bargain hunting snaps market’s 5-day downturn

MANILA, Philippines — Stocks advanced as investors sought for bargains, snapping the local market’s five-day losing skid.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.63 percent or 40.02 points to end yesterday’s session at 6,375.35.

The broader All Shares index also closed in the win column, inching up by 0.47 percent or 17.37 points to 3,737.94.

“The local market’s sideways movement ended in the positive territory on the back of bargain hunting,” Philstocks Research said in a report.

“Appreciation of corporate fundamentals helped in the rise,” it said.

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the PSEi finally corrected slightly higher after five straight trading days due to the continued growth in earnings of big companies, including banks.

Ricafort also cited the strengthening of the peso amid the easing of US-China trade tensions.

Mining and oil led all the sectors, surging by 4.65 percent, while the property index registered the biggest decline at 0.60 percent.

Market breadth was positive as advancers squashed decliners, 107 to 81, while 52 issues were unchanged.

Net value turnover, however, thinned to P5.67 billion from the previous day’s P6.8 billion.

ICTSI was yesterday’s most actively traded stock, inching up by 0.05 percent to P400.20 per share, followed by BPI, which grew by 4.27 percent to P136.70.

Among index members, Chinabank lost the most, plunging by 6.36 percent to P76.50.