Index surges on bargain hunting

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine market recovered yesterday as investors gobbled up bargain stocks.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index climbed 1.67 percent or 97.79 points to settle at 5,940.67, while the broader all shares index gained 0.87 percent or 31.26 points to 3,628.57.

“Most of the indices went up because a lot of people are positioning for the year, for the first quarter earnings,” Nisha S. Alicer, research strategist at DA Market Securities, said in a phone interview.

Alicer said there is much optimism underneath the 6,000 level, with the breakout from the resistance level expected to convince more investors to return to the market.

All counters ended in positive territory, led by financial firms that jumped 1.96 percent or 27.66 points to 1,439.32 while holding firms rose 1.96 percent or 103.77 points to 5,392.17.

Investor participation increased, with P5.99 billion shares changing hands from P5.6 billion on Friday. There were two advancers for each decliner, while 40 stocks did not change.

Most active shares were in the positive territory, led by SM Prime Holdings Inc. (+2.37 percent) and index heavyweight PLDT (+0.74 percent).

“We see selectivity to be the key to outperformance in the next 12 months. We remain constructive on sectors with visible earnings outlook like consumer goods, retail, and gaming,” said the First Metro Investment Corp. and University of Asia and the Pacific in their joint publication, The Market Call.