PSEi climbs, but still below 6,000 territory

The stock market on Tuesday recovered somewhat from its three-day slump after investors hunted for bargains.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) inched up by 0.17 percent or 9.86 points to close at 5,953.44 while the broader All Shares added 0.23 percent or 8.03 points to finish at 3,548.60.

Philstocks Financial Inc. research analyst Piper Chaucer Tan credited the market’s slight improvement to bargain hunting, and said this might last until the end of the week because of month-end window dressing. But the uptick may not be sustainable, he added.

He also said Tuesday’s value turnover of P4.5 billion was still below the year-to-date average of P6 billion to 7 billion.

According to him, trading was affected by the lack of fresh leads in the bourse and would take cues from offshore markets like the United States.

“Earnings are done and economic data for [the] first half has already been priced in for the market right now. Net foreign selling is also tallied for this trading session at P463 million,” Tan said.

AAA Equities Head of Research Christopher Mangun said selling pressure had diminished, adding that “after several days of selling, bargain hunters have returned and scooped up battered shares.”

Despite this, Mangun said general sentiment remained cautious as the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases continued to surge.

As of Tuesday, that number grew by 2,965 to 197,164, of which 61,730 are active. Of the total, 136,396 have recovered and 3,038 died of the illness, which first emerged in the city of Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province last December.

The market would continue moving sideways until investors see more signs of economic recovery, Mangun said.

Wall Street rallied overnight as the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained 1.35 percent, 1 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Most Asian markets also rose. Tokyo was up 1.35 percent, Seoul climbed by 1.58 percent, Jakarta gained 1.17 percent, Singapore added 0.86 percent, Bangkok inched up by 0.11 percent and Ho Chi Minh improved by 0.63 percent. Shanghai and Hong Kong shed 0.36 percent and 0.26 percent, respectively.

In Manila, sectors were mixed. Services led gainers at 1.36 percent, while financials declined the most at 0.50 percent.

Total volume turnover was at 1.25 billion shares, valued at P4.56 billion.
Losers outpaced winners, 109 to 84, with 51 securities unchanged.