BDO is top foreign pick in February

MANILA, Philippines — Sy-led BDO Unibank emerged as the top foreign stock pick in February, according to the latest report by The Market Call.

The top five favorite stocks of foreign investors saw a net foreign buying of P4.5 billion in February with BDO leading the pack.

The Market Call is a joint publication of First Metro Investment Corp. and UA&P Capital Markets Research.

Foreign investors bought P1.7 billion worth of BDO shares during the month followed by Pangilinan-led Manila Electric Co. which enjoyed a foreign buying of P1 billion.

Another bank, Aboitiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines also landed on the top five stock picks of foreign investors with a foreign buying of P937.36 million.

Jollibee Foods Corp. was at No. 4 with a foreign buying of P387.6 million.

Consunji-led DMCI Holdings completed the top five favorite picks of foreign investors with P383.8 million worth of its shares bought by foreign funds.

On the other hand, Ayala-led stocks took a beating in February with P3.9 billion worth of Globe Telecom shares dumped by foreign investors during the month.

This was followed by P1.1- billion worth of AC Energy shares also sold by foreign investors.

SM Investments Corp. also took a beating with P1-billion worth of shares sold by foreign investors.

Foreign investors also sold P1-billion worth of Ayala Land Inc. shares as well as P1-billion worth of Ayala Corp. shares.

The top five stocks sold by foreign investors saw a net foreign selling of P8 billion. All were Ayala-led stocks except for SM Investments.

The financial sector turned in a strong performance as it reported a 2.3-percent gain month-on-month. It showed the best year-to-date performance with its 11.3 percent month-on-month increase.

Share prices of Bank of the Philippine Islands led the financial index, rising by 4.6 percent month-on-month in February.

Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company’s share prices followed suit, posting a 1.7-percent uptick from its 2.9 percent increase a month ago.

BDO share prices likewise inched up by 0.5 percent during the month, after recording a 16.2-percent gain a month ago.