PSE Index Up To Previous Level In Light Trade

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index crawled back to its previous level on Thursday, closing at 6,519.11, up by 56.31 points or 0.87 percent in light trade.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, December 28, 2023

All sub-indices posted gains, but the total value turnover was less than half the average at P2.8 billion. Despite gainers being more than double the losers (124 to 61, with 36 shares unchanged), the uncertainty remains as the projected Christmas rally has not materialized.

The industrial sector went up by 1.12 percent, financials rose by 0.56 percent, holding firms were up 0.95 percent, services by 0.97 percent, mining and oil by 0.77 percent, and property by 0.37 percent.

Foreign buying amounted to P1.26 billion, and foreign selling hit P1.247 billion for net foreign buying of P12.7 million, which is the lowest, showing the lack of enthusiasm for the local market that witnessed the delisting of two stocks, namely Holcim Philippines and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

Foreigners have been citing the low number of shares they can buy, contributing to the lesser interest in the market. Although the Philippine Stock Exchange has been resorting to embracing trends such as short selling to perk up value turnover.

Ayala Land emerged as the most active with P222 million in trades as it rose by 10 centavos to P34.40, while SM Prime gained 20 centavos to P33.60. Robinsons Land, however, went down by 20 centavos to P15.80.

Market bellwether SM Investments rose by P5 to P894. The gainers were Bloomberry, Semirara Mining, Aboitiz Equity, Globe Telecom, PLDT, Converge, Ayala Corp., Alliance Global, Dito CME, SPNEC, Metrobank, PNB, Meralco, Bank of PI, BDO Unibank, ICTSI, Jollibee Foods, San Miguel.

Among the losers were Top Frontier, down by 45 centavos to P96.05, JG Summit, Abacore Capital, Apex Mining, Philex Mining, Ginebra, Araneta Properties, MREIT, Cebu Air, and Robinsons Retail.

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