Market ends 2-day slump, bounces above 6,800

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market ended a brief two-day bleeding as it made its way back to the 6,800 territory.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index climbed by 0.82 percent or 56.05 points to finish at 6,854.66.

The All Shares index followed the uptrend, rising by 0.54 percent or 19.09 points to settle at 3,581.70.

“Philippine shares bounced back following a technical selloff on Monday,” Regina Capital’s Luis Limlingan said.

Philstocks Financial research and engagement officer Mikhail Plopenio said investors were able to regain confidence after a two-day decline.

“The positive sentiment was fueled by rate-cut hopes from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas after Pantheon Economics stated that the central bank may start to cut rates by May,” Plopenio said.

“Additionally, investors cheered the recent moves by the People’s Bank of China wherein it held its short-term interest rates unchanged and cut its five-year loan prime rate by 25 bps. Foreign funds also gave the market a boost with net inflows amounting to P666.48 million,” he said.

According to Plopenio, Tuesday’s net market value turnover of P4.57 billion was slightly higher than the year-to-date average of P4.56 billion.

Local counters were mixed, with services leading those that advanced as it jumped by 2.40 percent. Industrial and mining & oil were on the losing end, dropping by 0.85 percent and 0.23 percent, respectively.

Market breadth was positive as advancers edged out decliners, 106 to 78, while 46 stocks did not change.

Meanwhile, Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC) informed the PSE that it is deferring its initial public offering to the second quarter.

“Following this, the company is carefully evaluating the offers from the various institutions, and hopes to finalize them at the soonest possible time,” CREC said.