Technical bounce snaps index’s 3-day slump

MANILA, Philippines - A technical rebound yesterday snapped the three-day slump of the local stock index.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index rose 0.11 percent or 7.62 points to 6,787.88, while the broader All Shares index gained 0.26 percent or 10.36 points to close at 4,060.64.

“It was a technical bounce as an offset of the optimism in other markets, especially Wall St.,” said Astro C. del Castillo, managing director of brokerage firm First Grade Holdings Inc.

The strong opening allowed the main index to hit an intraday high of 6,808.43 but the rally lost steam later in the day, Del Castillo said, adding investors were concerned with high valuations.

Wall St. resumed trading Tuesday after the Memorial Day holiday. The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.42 percent or 69.23 points to close at 16,675.50, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index improved 0.6 percent or 11.38 points to 1,911.91, a fresh record driven by merger announcements and hopes on lower interest rates in the euro zone.

Asian markets followed the lead of Wall St. Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.24 percent or 34.43 points to finish at 14,670.95.

Locally, all counters, save for the property sector, were in the green. The advancers were paced by holding firms that rose 0.30 percent or 18.22 points to 6,150.54.

The value of shares that changed hands climbed to P7.22 billion from P5.36 billion Tuesday. For the first time this week, advancers outpaced decliners, 92 to 78, while 40 stocks did not change.

Top-traded issues posted gains, led by index heavyweight PLDT (+0.07 percent), Megaworld Corp. (+0.87 percent) and LT Group Inc. (+3.77 percent). But Ayala Land Inc. (-0.62 percent) and Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (-1.02 percent) bucked the trend yesterday.