Market finishes week with modest gains

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market finished the week with modest gains, snapping a two-day decline as investors hunted for bargains.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index inched up by 0.09 percent or 5.99 points, finishing the session at 6,897.54.

The broader All Shares index also ended in positive territory, adding 0.26 percent or 9.52 points to settle at 3,742.81.

“The local market rose this Friday after its two-day decline on the back of bargain hunting,” Philstocks Financial research manager Japhet Tantiangco said.

“Easing recession concerns in the US brought by the decline in their initial jobless claims and their upwardly revised second quarter gross domestic product growth data gave the local market a boost,” Tantiangco said.

However, Tantiangco said the market’s gains were trimmed as investors maintained a cautious stance while waiting for catalysts.

Net value turnover surged to P13.04 billion, more than double from Thursday’s P6.15 billion.

Sectoral gauges were a mixed bag, with property posting the biggest jump at 1.89 percent.

Services, meanwhile, recorded the largest drop at 0.92 percent. Holding firms close behind with a 0.90-percent decline.

Market breadth was positive as advancers crushed decliners, 104 to 88, while 56 issues were unchanged.

Wilcon Depot registered the largest gain among index members at 4.44 percent while Nickel Asia lost the most with 2.32 percent.

Among the most actively traded stocks were Ayala Land (up 1.29 percent), ICTSI (down 1.69 percent), SM Investments (down 2.10 percent), BDO (down 0.46 percent) and DigiPlus (down 4.05 percent).