Bargain hunting pushes index higher

MANILA, Philippines — The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended slightly higher yesterday on last-minute bargain hunting, but volume was still thin as the coronavirus disease -2019 (COVID-19) continued to send jitters across the world.

The PSEi finished at 7,403.12, slightly up by 20.02 points, or 0.27 percent, while the broader All Shares index was flat at 1.78 points, or 0.04 percent, to end at 4,357.24.

Most indexes were down except for holding firms and financials.

Total value turnover was thin at P4.8 billion. Market breadth was negative with 124 losers and 64 gainers, while 43 issues were left unchanged.

Chris Mangun of AAA Securities said: “At the PSE, the main index ended higher on last-minute trading on very low trading volumes after trading much lower for most of the day. Turnover value came in today at P4.35 billion excluding block sales. We saw foreign outflows today with net-selling at P528.7 million.

He said a few trades on large-cap blue chips carried the whole PSEi higher today. Most investors are still on the  sidelines which proved to be the better strategy as the sentiment continues to deteriorate on fears of a much worse pandemic.

“Retail investors are starting to take the same strategy and take cash off the table. Second and third liners are crashing because of this. The main index may end the week closer to the 7,475 resistance level,” Mangun said.