PSE Index Staves Off Profit-Taking To Close At A Gain

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index on Wednesday managed to post a small gain despite profit-taking, closing at 7,402.81 points, up by 22.49 points or 0.30 percent.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, October 2, 2024

This reinforces the bullish sentiment that has seen blue chips rise by 20 percent, driven by the "Ber" months’ projection of better market conditions and prospective hikes in corporate incomes.

Profit-taking occurred immediately after the market opened, sending the index to a low of 7,335.19 points, down by 16 points from its opening.

However, the index later climbed to a high of 7,412.87 points as investors bought shares targeted by early profit-takers. Despite this recovery, value turnover was muted, down by a third from its average, reaching only P4.33 billion.

Optimism remained strong due to continued net foreign buying, which amounted to P2.153 billion against foreign selling of P1.613 billion, resulting in net foreign buying of P540 million.

This marks over 20 consecutive trading days of net foreign buying, bolstering expectations that the index could breach the 7,500-point resistance level, with future projections targeting 8,000 points.

The financials sector rose by 0.95 percent as investors anticipated higher bank profits, driven by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ reduction in interest rates and the 2.5 percent downgrade in reserve requirements for banks.

This decrease in reserves will provide more loanable funds for businesses, potentially boosting banking profits.

Other sub-indices that posted gains were holding firms, up by 0.21 percent; services, up by 0.30 percent; and mining and oil, up by 2.17 percent. However, the industrial and property sectors declined by 0.70 percent and 0.12 percent, respectively.

There were 91 gainers, 114 losers, and 56 unchanged shares.

Among the gainers were SM Investments, ICTSI, Globe Telecom, BDO Unibank, China Bank, JG Summit, Security Bank, Union Bank, AREIT, Alliance Global, MREIT, PAL, Apex Mining, Nickel Asia, Philodrill, Shakey's Pizza, PhilWeb, OceanaGold, Philex Mining, Double Dragon, Ginebra, Figaro Coffee, SPNEC, First Gen, Synergy Grid, D&L Industries, Cosco Capital, and Robinsons Land.

On the losing side were Metrobank, Ayala Corp, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), PNB, East West, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), Emperador, Roxas and Co., Fruitas, CEMEX Holdings, and Abacore.

GT Capital, SM Prime, PLDT, Bloomberry, SSI Group, Oriental Petroleum, Aboitiz Equity, ACEN Corp., Alternergy, Aboitiz Power, Semirara Mining, Axelum, Monde Nissin, Vitarich, GMA 7, Puregold, Wilcon Depot, and Cebu Air also closed in the red.

Unchanged stocks included Ayala Land, National Reinsurance, Keppel Holdings, Citicore RT, Filinvest Land, Megaworld, Dito CME, Belle Corp, Metro Retail, and Atlas Mining.