PSE Index Ends The Week In An Upswing

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index ended the week on an upswing, maintaining its milestone level as it closed at 7,252.32 points, up by 50.16 points or 0.70 percent.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, September 20, 2024

Banking stocks posted significant gains due to the big US Federal Reserve rate decrease of 50 basis points, which is expected to be mirrored by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

The rate decrease was seen as positive for banking stocks, which form the financials sub-index, resulting in a 2.25 percent rise. Analysts predict banks will see increased profits from the lower rates.

Other sectors also benefited from the US Fed's dovish move: industrials rose by 1.13 percent, holding firms by 0.66 percent, services by 0.92 percent, and mining and oil by 0.91 percent.

Property was the only sector to decline, dropping by 0.70 percent.

San Miguel Corporation was the most actively traded stock with P1.413 billion in trades, though it fell by 5.58 percent to close at P88.80, down by P5.25. The drop was attributed to its deletion from the mid-cap FTSE index, triggering a sell-off.

BDO Unibank followed with P1.15 billion in trades but dropped by 40 centavos to P160. ICTSI, the third most active, rose by 60 centavos to P403.40 on P913 million in trades.

The index actually reached a milestone level of 7,338.66 points earlier in the day, with San Miguel opening at P94.20 and market bellwether SM Investments hitting a new high of P994 before closing lower on profit-taking at P970, up by P6.

Value turnover amounted to nearly three times the average at P16.9 billion, with net foreign buying reaching P1.28 billion on sales of P7.185 billion and purchases of P8.467 billion.

There were 130 gainers, 77 losers, and 47 unchanged shares. Analysts forecast the market to end the year at 7,500 points, buoyed by this week’s strong performance, which saw the index gain 148 points and foreign buying dominate the trades.

Among the gainers were Ayala Corp., Bank of PI, Ayala Land, Metrobank, PLDT, DigiPlus, China Bank, Vitarich, East West Bank, PNB, Union Bank, Security Bank, Figaro Coffee, Jollibee Foods, Integrated Micro, and Abacore.

Also riding on the upward momentum were Megaworld, Boulevard Holdings, DoubleDragon, JG Summit, ACEN Corp, First Gen, SPNEC, Shell Pilipinas, Semirara Mining, Synergy Grid, Petron, Axelum, Century Food, D&L Industries, Monde Nissin, Aboitiz Equity, LT Group, Shang Properties, Converge, Belle Corp, DoubleDragon, Cosco Capital, Cebu Air, Apex Mining, OceanaGold, Philex Mining, and Atlas Mining.