Roller-coaster ride at the PSE in 1st half

The first semester of the year was a roller coaster ride for the Philippine Stock Exchange, with the main index hitting an all-time record high of 8,127.48 last April 10 but the market eventually saw its gains slashed by half on a confluence of local and overseas events.

“Sector-wise, the picture hardly changes – each has erased more than half of the maximum gains booked inside the year-todate – three, Industrials, Services and Mining and Oil were even worse, completely reversing such gains,” said Accord Capital & Equities Corporation analyst Justino Calaycay Jr.

However, he noted that the total value flow for the first six months of 2015 remained strong. It is the second best aggregate in the last seven years at P1.14 trillion (including block trade values), trailing only the first half of 2013’s P1.4 trillion.

“There were ten counters that provided a year-to-date return of at least 50% -- sans compounding. But before anyone starts to bang his head against the wall for ‘missing out on these opportunities,’ it is important to note that, for most of them, their ‘meteoric rise’ went under the radar for a reason – thin liquidity,” said Calaycay.

The top performers among the 260 stocks listed at the PSE are: Manila Broadcasting Corporation 1,332.84 percent, Prime Orion Philippines Inc. 197.1 percent, Trans-Asia Petroleum Corporation 157.14 percent, Makati Finance Corporation 136.40 percent, Philweb Corporation 93.85 percent, AG Finance Inc. 90 percent, 2Go Group Inc. 78.14 percent, NiHAO Mineral Resources International Inc. 66.52 percent, Cirtek Holdings Philippine Corporation 55.16 percent, Globe Telecom 45.09 percent, Primex Corporation 44.27 percent.

On the other hand, the worst 10 performers consist mostly of gaming stocks which saw their share prices plummet amid China’s crackdown on citizens going overseas to gamble in casinos. Also in the list are mining firms which are still suffering from low metal prices and uncertainties over government policies while oil firms in the list are reeling from the drop in oil prices worldwide.

The losers are Philex Petroleum Corporation -64.48 percent, Melco Crown Philippines 62.30 percent, BHI Holdings Inc. 56.71 percent, Marventures Holdings 53.58 percent, Synergy Grid & Development Philippines Inc. 49.97 percent, Bright Kindle Resources & Investments 47.60 percent, Jackstones Inc. 46.99 percent, Premium Leisure Corporation 44.60 percent, Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. 40.88 percent, Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. 35.92 percent.

Focusing on firms that are members of the prestigious PSE index, the top 10 performers are: Globe Telecom Inc. 45.09 percent, GT Capital Holdings Inc. 32.36 percent, SM Prime Holdings Inc. 17.25 percent, LT Group Inc. 14.66 percent, Ayala Corporation 13.83 percent, Manila Electric Company 13.75 percent, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Corporation 13.25 percent, Ayala Land Inc. 10.68 percent, Robinsons Land Corporation 10.57 percent.

On the other hand, worst PSEi performers are: Bloomberry Resorts Corporation 30.56 percent, San Miguel Corporation 19.38 percent, Emperador Inc. 17.15 percent, Petron Corporation 16.51 percent, DMCI Holdings Inc. 15.92 percent, Energy Development Corporation 8.78 percent, Jollibee Foods Corporation 8.23 percent, International Container Terminal Services Inc. 4.17 percent, Alliance Global Group Inc. 3.77 percent.