Market soars to new all-time high

As the market exits the yearly ghost month, Philippine shares started the week on a positive note, hitting another all-time high for three straight days on Monday.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) surged by 113.29 points, or 1.39 percent, to close at an all-time high of 8,294.16 points, while the wider All Shares index gained 50.15 points, or 1.04 percent, to 4,886.48.

This was higher than Friday’s alltime high of 8,180.85.

Trading volume remained robust with 1.30 billion shares, valued at 18.1 billion, changing hands. Gainers swamped losers, 121-83, with 46 issues unchanged.

“The PSE’s ascent was mostly in step with gains in Wall Street and other Asian markets. We are pleased to see the momentum continuing behind investors’ optimism over market prospects,” said PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monson.

To date, the PSEi has gained 21.2 percent from last year’s level.

Luis Limlingan, head of research and sales at Regina Capital Development Corp., said shares continued their upward trajectory

as an important trading week sees the end of the ghost month and the meeting of several central banks including our own.

“In the Philippines, our BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) will hold their meeting on Thursday September 21. We expect the BSP to leave policy rates unchanged, keeping the overnight reverse repo rate at 3.00 percent and the overnight deposit rate at 2.50 percent. While headline inflation has ticked up over the past two months, our projections suggest that year-over-year inflation could stay quite muted through the end of the year,” Limlingan said in a text message.

Globally, the main event for markets will be the Federal Reserve meeting today (Tuesday) and Wednesday where it is likely to take another step toward normalization on what is rapidly becoming a global trend.

Over the weekend, both S&P 500 and Dow finished at records, which also propelled the Philippines to new heights.

For his part, Lexter Azurin, analyst at AB Capital Securities, said the tax reform package, which would be discussed later this week, has likewise led to optimism in the market.

In May, the House of Representatives passed the tax reform bill aimed at generating revenue for a multi-billion dollar infrastructure program key to the government’s economic agenda, but the bill still needs Senate approval.

Back here, majority of the sectors were also on the green side, with holding firms jumping by 184.28 points, or 2.29 percent to 8,234.38, followed by property, which rose by 64.69 points, or 1.65 percent to 3,991.49.

Financials sector, on the other hand, added 19.08 points, or 0.97 percent to 1,992.94, while services inched up by 2.06 points, or 0.12 percent to close at 1,741.01.

Meanwhile, mining and oil didn’t manage to ride the tide and instead lost 16.56 points, or 0.12 percent to 14,252.16, while industrial slightly went down by 9.22 points, or 0.08 percent to 11,358.04.

All in all, total value turnover stood at P8.11 billion. Gainers also outnumbered losers, 121 to 83, while 46 issues were unchanged.