Index climbs on positive cues from Wall Street

MANILA, Philippines — Positive cues from Wall Street helped the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) advance for a second consecutive day.

The PSEi ended yesterday’s session at 6,323.13 points, up by 0.16 percent or 10.01 points.

However, the broader All Shares index dipped by 0.11 percent or 4.03 points to settle at 3,745.32.

“The PSEi gained after latest gains in the US stock markets, mostly at new one-week highs and up from six-month lows, after the Fed kept rates unchanged at the target rate of 4.25 to 4.50 percent,” RCBC chief economist Michael Ricafort said.

Trading was thin with net value turnover at P4.46 billion, down from the previous day’s P5.51 billion.

Foreigners remained as net buyers with net inflows at P166.83 million.

Local counters were dominated by those in the positive territory, led by mining and oil, which skyrocketed by 6.07 percent.

Financials was the only sector in the red, sliding by 0.42 percent.

Advancers beat decliners, 103 to 98, while 44 issues did not change.

Ayala was yesterday’s most actively traded stock, declining by 0.33 percent to P604, followed by DigiPlus,  which dropped by 0.26 percent to P38.40.

Among index members, Converge ICT Solutions posted the largest gain at 3.76 percent, while BPI lost the most, falling by 2.03 percent.