Index zooms past 7,400 mark

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market zoomed past the 7,400 mark with ease, with investors carrying over their optimism from last week.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) kicked off the week strong with a new high in more than two years, soaring by 2.27 percent or 164.93 points to 7,417.25.

This was the PSEi’s highest since finishing at 7,440.91 on Feb. 22, 2022.

The broader All Shares index also closed in positive territory, surging by 1.6 percent or 62.4 points to 3,958.02.

“The benchmark index continued its very bullish momentum to close at its highest level since February 2022 on the back of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ significant reduction of the reserve requirement ratio and strong foreign fund flows,” China Bank Capital Corp. managing director Juan Paolo Colet said.

Colet, however, said the market is technically overbought and as such, a pullback is expected very soon.

Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital, on his end, said the local bourse opened the week above 7,400 ahead of key data releases.

“In the US, the durable goods report on Thursday and the core personal consumption expenditures inflation report on Friday will be closely monitored for inflation signals. Several Fed officials are also set to speak, potentially providing insights into monetary policy,” Limlingan said.

“Locally, the third quarter 2024 business and consumer confidence surveys on Sept. 23 will precede the August budget balance report on Sept. 25,” Limlingan said.

Value turnover during yesterday’s session stood at P8.24 billion.

All sectors were in the green, except for mining and oil, which dipped by 0.01 percent.

Financials led the charge with a 3.69-percent surge, followed by services which jumped by 2.01 percent.

Market breadth was positive as advancers edged out decliners, 121 to 93, while 52 stocks were unchanged.