PSEi up on late bargain-hunting

INVESTORS searching for bargains helped the stock market inch closer to the 5,600 territory before closing on wednesday.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index ( PSEi) inched up by 0.47 percent or 26.11 points to close at its intraday high of 5,581.96, while the wider All Shares improved by 0.35 percent or 11.65 points to end at 3,371.47.

In a market comment, Philstocks Financial Inc. attributed THE POSITIVE fiNISH TO LAST-MINUTE bargain-hunting.

AAA Equities Research Head Christopher Mangun agreed, saying bargain hunters took advantage of minor selling pressure in the last hour of Wednesday’s trading.

“Last- minute buying allowed the main index to end with gains as it closed at its high for the day. The market has found an equilibrium between bears and bulls as it continues to move sideways. It may continue higher in the coming days to test resistance,” he explained.

Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan

creditable manner, spending kept within means, and subject to proper accounting and auditing practices.

- Health and primary education.

At the provincial level, the focus SHOULD BE ON GAP-fiLLING, PROVIDing what national-level programs do not.

- Higher education and training.

Here, the focus should be on workforce development complementing the province’s unique economy. What was found in the case of Masbate — and in many other provinces — are workforce development efforts that favor more generalized training with an eye toward labor export, which results in them being a cost, rather than an investment.

This takes into account both the value chain of goods (or services) produced in the province, and the size of the market for them. In some cases, markets can be developed; in others — in Masbate’s case, the coconut industry may be a good example — it may be better to develop alternatives.

- Efficient goods markets. - Efficient labor markets.

This goes hand-in-hand with higher education and training; it is not just a matter of creating jobs, but creating jobs and workers that maximize overall productivity.

- Ability to harness technology. existing

This applies to the private sector as much as it does the public sector. Investing in the latest

said “Philippine equities ended higher on last- minute bargain-hunting as more talk of stimulus became a catalyst for the market.”

“Steven Mnuchin plans to use all $500 billion the [US] Treasury has allocated to help the [American] economy and is willing to take on more risks to do so,” he added, referring to the US Treasury secretary.

Wall Street ended in the red as optimism on the positive results

technology, in terms of both mateRIAL AND SKILLS, IMPROVES EFfiCIENCY.

This refers to the effectiveness of business networks, as well as individual business processes and practices, which, with all due respect, tend to be arcane in most places in the Philippines.

- Business sophistication. - Innovation.

In everything else on this list, a constant process of ASSESSMENT AND EFFORT TO fiND WAYS to do things better should be the guiding perspective.

In practice, these pillars of competitiveness are used to generate key performance indicators for individual projects. For an initiative such as, for example, developing a client feedback and engagement program for the provincial hospital, the details of the idea simply need to be assessed in terms of the applicable pillars, which then suggest positive performance targets. If the CPI is applied consistently, planning becomes easier and, because it is done with a common basic approach regardless of the subject, different individual projects become complementary without much extra effort on the part of the planners. More important, practicing the CPI establishes competitiveness as a habit; for a province, that can spell the difference between progress and stagnation. of US biotechnology company Moderna’s possible Covid- 19 vaccine weakened after a report questioned their validity. As a result, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq shed 1.59 percent, 1.05 percent and 0.54 percent, respectively.

Asian markets were mixed. Tokyo was up 0.79 percent, Seoul climbed by 0.46 percent, Thailand rose by 0.56 percent and Ho Chi Minh improved by 0.83 percent. Shanghai was down by 0.51 percent, Hong Kong slipped by 0.16 percent, Jakarta shed 0.10 percent and Singapore lost 0.88 percent.

In Manila, most sectors rose, with mining and oil leading at 1.16 percent. Industrial and services slid by 1.27 percent and 0.27 percent each.

Total volume turnover was 316.58 million shares, valued P3.3 billion.

Winners edged out losers, 88 to 84, with 40 securities still unchanged. at at