PSEi breaches 8,500 mark, ends at new high

Riding with the optimism felt overseas and expectations over the imminent end of the Marawi war in Mindanao, Philippine shares went past the 8,500 level for the first time yesterday, before settling with another record just a few points lower than that.

“Philippine markets (closed at) new a new record once more, along with major US indexes setting the latest in a string of records, as investors looked ahead to key corporate earnings reports that could set the tone for trading and determine whether the lofty levels of the equity market are justified,” Marita Limlingan, president of Regina Capital Development Corp., said.

Overnight on Monday, Wall Street stocks jumped to fresh records, boosted by bank shares that were lifted by expectations that the Federal Reserve will again increase interest rates this year. All three major indices ended at records, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.4 percent to 22,956.96. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 2,557.64, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.3 percent to 6,624.00.

In reaction, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) yesterday jumped to 8,586.73 in early trade before eventually closing 49.80 points, or 0.59 percent, at 8,497.74 – an all-time record closing. The wider All Shares was also up by 18.02 points, or 0.37 percent to 4,956.13.

Some of the most actively traded stocks that went up were Ayala Corp., BDO Unibank, Inc., SM Prime Holdings, Inc., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company., GT Capital Holdings, Inc., and SM Investments Corp.

Except for holding firms and services, majority of the sectors retreated as some investors began cashing in gains. Holding firms particularly went up by 142.77 points, or 1.65 percent to 8,777.40, while services inched up by 5.78 points, or 0.34 percent to 1,707.38.

Mining and oil, on the other hand, declined by 126.50 points, or 0.93 percent to 13,547.72, while industrial sank by 84.43 points, or 0.76 percent to 10,977.37.

The decline in the mining sector came after mining firms’ share prices rallied due to rising mineral prices.

“Share prices of mining companies have gone up during the past few months as a result of rising mineral prices in the world market. Stronger global demand brought about by the improving economic landscape has allowed base metal prices to rise,” COL Financial Group, Inc. said.

In particular, prices of nickel and copper jumped significantly since the start of the year. Nickel prices increased by as much as 28 percent to a high of US$6.00 per barrel (/lb) from its low of US$4.68/lb last June 2017, while copper prices rose by as much as 28 percent to US$3.10/lb year to date.

“This has allowed the first-half earnings of mining companies to recover and beat our estimates,” COL further said.

Meanwhile, financials also went down by 2.63 points, or 0.13 percent to 2,061.79, followed by property, which erased 0.41 points, or 0.01 percent to 3,954.33.

As of the last trading, the value of shares that changed hands stood at R11.7 billion. Losers also beat gainers, 121 to 88. 42 issues were unchanged.