Bourse inches up for second consecutive day

LOCAL SHARES continued largely sideways trades on Tuesday amid a lack of drivers and profit-taking by investors.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index climbed 18.42 points or 0.23% to close 7,952.92, while the broader allshares index steadied 2.67 points or 0.05% up to finish 4,755.68.

“Due to lack of any leads, Philippine shares resorted to ( bargain hunting/profit taking) given that the US markets closed almost flat on Monday,” said Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan in a mobile phone message, noting that “upward momentum in previous weeks tapered below records, while investors are still trying to set the tone of the upcoming quarterly results.”

Harry G. Liu, president of Summit Securities, Inc. said the market moved largely sideways while waiting for fresh leads to push the index up, with nothing on the horizon to pull it down.

“The market’s just really trading between 7,750 to 8,000. Only good news will push it higher to the 8,000 level,” Mr. Liu said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Mr. Liu added that investors are waiting for President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s second state of the nation address on Monday next week to glean solid signals on reforms like the tax reform program, whose first of up to five packages hurdled the House of Representatives at end May and which now awaits Senate approval before year end.

The government is banking on that reform program to help fund its “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure development drive that should see more than P8 trillion in government funds spent until 2022, when Duterte administration ends.

Providing some upward impetus to markets was China’s July 17 report showing that gross domestic product growth steadied at 6.9% in the second quarter from 2017’s first three months, providing merit to Mr. Duterte’s move to rebuild ties to that major market despite simmering bilateral tensions in the South China Sea.

Most sectoral indices ended yesterday with gains, except for services that dropped 23.05 points or 1.36% to end 1,671.61.

Property went 30.81 points or 0.82% to 3,750.98, mining and oil increased by 67.51 points or 0.53% to 12,805.86, financials rose by or 7.88 points or 0.40% to 1,963.39, holding firms gained 12.16 points or 0.15% to 7,955.07, while industrial firms edged 15.05 points or 0.13% higher to 11,184.90.

Advancers trumped losers at 104 to 94, while 57 issues were unchanged.

Value turnover amounted to P6.49 billion as 3.95 billion shares changed hands from Monday’s 3.38 billion worth P6.57 billion. Net foreign buying grew 42% to P275.29 million from Monday’s P193.66 million.

Stocks that gained were led by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (3.58% to P6.95 apiece) and Ayala Land, Inc. ( 0.72% to P41.75), while PLDT, Inc. and BDO Unibank, Inc. led those that lost at 3.48% and 0.57% down to P1,665 and P122.10 each, respectively. —