PHL stocks rebound as investors pick up bargains

LOCAL SHARES recovered on Tuesday as investors hunted for bargains following the market’s recent decline.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) went up 1.4% or 102.87 points to close at 7,451.08 yesterday versus the previous session’s 7,348.21. The broader all-shares index was also up by 0.84% or 37.59 points to 4,478.73.

“Our index ended up today as investors hunt for bargains after the PSEi fell for three days,” Jervin S. de Celis, equity trader at Timson Securities, Inc. said in a message on Tuesday.

“Foreigners, however, are net sellers…as they remain cautious due to the renewed tension between US and China over the arrest of Huawei’s [chief finance officer] and China’s ban of iPhone sales after granting Qualcomm an injunction against Apple,” he added.

Foreign selling was logged at P326.16 million on Tuesday, a reversal of Monday’s net buying worth P3.96 billion.

Huawei’s Chief Finance Officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested by Canadian authorities last week after allegedly violating trade sanctions against Iran.

Meanwhile, a Chinese court has ordered a sales ban of some older Apple, Inc. iPhone models in China for violating two patents of chipmaker Qualcomm, Inc. though intellectual property lawyers said enforcement of the ban was likely still a distant threat.

On the other hand, for Luis A. Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp. said in a text message that shares “staged a rally with the Brexit postponed and US stocks recovering from an early rout.”

Wall Street ended Monday’s volatile session slightly higher with help from technology stocks although bank stocks tumbled and uncertainty over Britain’s exit from the European Union kept investors on edge about global growth.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 34.31 points or 0.14% to 24,423.26; the S&P 500 gained 4.64 points or 0.18% to 2,637.72; and the Nasdaq Composite added 51.27 points or 0.74% to 7,020.52.

Back home, majority of sector counters ended higher, led by holding firms which was up by 1.96% or 139.83 points to close at 7,275.80. Property rose 1.86% or 67.22 points to 3,667.62; industrials went up 0.99% or 106.78 points to 10,826.11; and financials gained 0.49% or 8.67 points to end at 1,775.66.

On the other hand, services went down 0.46% or 6.6 points to 1,401.07 and mining and oil dropped 0.07% or 6.44 points to 8,311.16.

Some 551.63 million shares valued at P4.72 billion switched hands yesterday, sinking from Monday’s P14.84-billion value turnover. Advancers beat decliners, 106 to 75, while 53 names remained unchanged.

“I assume the index may still go up [on Wednesday] as market participants try to retest the 7,500-7,600 resistance area. This level was also a former key support level from April to June and in the middle of the month of August… We probably need more positive catalysts to push our market higher,” Timson Securities’ Mr. De Celis said. •