PSE Index Roars Back To Life

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index roared back to life today, closing near its resistance level and returning to the 7,500-point range.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, October 15, 2024

Tuesday's rise was driven by the projected interest rate cut by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which is expected to be announced after its Monetary Board meeting on Wednesday.

The index closed at 7,456.31 points, up by 129.90 points or 1.77 percent. Contributing to the vibrant trading activity was the return of foreign investors as net buyers, resulting in an uptick in blue-chip shares.

Net foreign buying was recorded at PHP638 million, with foreign buying amounting to PHP3.536 billion against foreign selling of PHP2.898 billion.

Economists from foreign and local banks anticipate that the BSP will announce a 25 basis point cut in the interest rate on Wednesday, while some predict a larger 50 basis point reduction.

Among the sub-indices, only the mining and oil sector posted a loss, declining by a modest 0.26 percent.

The property sector saw the biggest gain, rising by 2.06 percent. The financials sector went up by 1.71 percent, the industrial sector rose by 1.43 percent, holding firms gained 1.77 percent, and the services sector advanced by 1.37 percent.

Market bellwether SM Investments rose by a significant 3.13 percent to PHP989, a PHP 30 gain, as nine of the top 10 traded stocks increased in value.

The only decline among the top traded stocks was Semirara Mining, which fell by 25 centavos to PHP34. Total turnover amounted to PHP6.38 billion, with 124 gainers, 92 losers, and 45 unchanged stocks.

Among the gainers were BDO Unibank, ICTSI, Metrobank, Ayala Land, Ayala Corp, PLDT, Globe Telecom, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Jollibee Foods, Alliance Global, Citicore RT, and Robinsons Land.

Also gaining were Converge, PhilWeb, Cebu Air, Megaworld, Apex Mining, Ferronickel, Atlas Mining, Universal Robina, ACEN Corp, Alternergy, SM Prime, Meralco, Manila Water, Emperador, Aboitiz Power, Vitarich, GMA-7, SSI Group, SPNEC, Synergy Grid, Monde Nissin, and Figaro Coffee.

Among the losers were Belle Corp, PNB, First Gen, Shell Pilipinas, Petron, Ginebra, San Miguel, DigiPlus, ABS-CBN, Nickel Asia, OceanaGold, and AgriNurture, while those unchanged included Citicore REIT, AbaCore, Filinvest Land, MRC Allied, and PAL.