PSE Index Surges On Foreign Buying

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index surged Monday, with all sub-indices posting substantial gains buoyed by foreign buying.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, December 23, 2024

It closed at the market's highest level, 6,534.91 points, up by 128.53 points or 2.01 percent. This came after a volatile session that saw the index dip to its lowest level at 6,382.20 points before rebounding strongly.

For the first time in three months, sub-indices recorded significant gains of over 1 percent and 2 percent, sparking optimism for a potential Christmas rally, although trading volumes remained muted and were a third below the average.

The surge was driven by net foreign buying, with investors snapping up shares that had declined significantly.

Net foreign buying amounted to ₱255 million, with foreign buying at ₱2.141 billion and foreign selling at ₱1.885 billion. Value turnover was just ₱4.2 billion, reflecting the subdued trading activity amid the holiday season.

The session recorded 110 gainers, 72 losers, and 53 unchanged stocks. Market bellwether SM Investments rose by 1.93 percent to ₱900, a gain of ₱17, while ICTSI emerged as the most active stock with trades worth ₱606 million.

ICTSI closed ₱8 higher at ₱398, up by 2.05 percent.

Property giant Ayala Land recorded a 5.85 percent increase to ₱26.25, up by ₱1.45, while SM Prime rose by 1.41 percent to ₱25.15. These gains pushed the property sub-index to the second-largest increase of the day at 2.31 percent, following industrials, which rose by 2.97 percent.

Financials gained 1.08 percent, holding firms 1.78 percent, services 1.02 percent, and mining and oil 2.23 percent. The top 10 traded stocks were all gainers.

Among the gainers were BDO Unibank, SPNEC, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Universal Robina, PLDT, Citystate Savings, China Bank, Metrobank, PNB, Security Bank, Union Bank, Bright Kindle, and ACEN Corporation.

Also in the green were Basic Energy, First Gen, Meralco, Petron, D&L Industries, Emperador, Ayala Corporation, Jollibee Foods, Monde Nissin, CEMEX Holdings, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, DMCI Holdings, GT Capital, JG Summit, LT Group, San Miguel, AREIT, Century Properties, ABS-CBN, Globe Telecom, Wilcon Depot, Apex Mining, Nickel Asia, and Philex Mining.

The losers included DigiPlus, PSE, Figaro Coffee, Aboitiz Power, Manila Water, Semirara Mining, Synergy Grid, Robinsons Land, GMA Network, Bloomberry, PAL, OceanaGold, Vista Land, Megaworld, MRC Allied, Shell Pilipinas, and Prime Media.

Unchanged stocks were Alternergy, Citicore Renewable Energy, Ginebra San Miguel, Cosco Capital, MREIT, Belle Corporation, Filinvest REIT, Keepers Holdings, Abacore, and Dito CME.