Philippine stocks mirror Wall Street gains

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market climbed its way back above the 6,500 level as it mirrored gains in the US market.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) won its second straight session yesterday, rising by 0.89 percent or 57.46 points to close at 6,507.49.

Also finishing higher was the broader All Shares index which increased by 0.59 percent or 20.74 points to close at 3,515.87.

Philstocks Financial research and engagement officer Mikhail Plopenio said the local market joined its Asian peers in the green territory on Wednesday, with the region taking cues from the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ’s record performances overnight.

“The local bourse was driven by bargain hunting and positive cues from Wall Street. This led the PSEi to join its neighboring peers especially Japan with the Nikkei reaching an all-time high,” Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said separately.

Aside from the positive spillovers, Plopenio said foreign inflows aided the local bourse’s climb as foreigners were net buyers with net inflows amounting to P463.4 million.

However, he said net market value turnover was tepid at P4.04 billion, lower than the year-to-date average of P4.98 billion.

All counters were in the green territory except for holding firms which slipped by 0.04 percent.

Services and financials led the charge, surging by 1.78 percent and 1.72 percent, respectively.

Market breadth remained positive as advancers edged out decliners, 90 to 83, while 62 issues were unchanged.

GT Capital Holdings gained the most during the session with a 3.51 percent jump while LT Group posted the biggest loss at 2.08 percent.