PSEi closes week in the green
Philippine share prices climbed for the fourth straight session on Friday as investors continued to hunt for bargains on easing fears of a US-China trade war.
The benchmark PSEi gained 48.60 points or 0.66 percent to 7,399.18 at the closing bell. The broader All Shares increased by 19.69 points or 0.44 percent to 4,474.89.
”I think, this is just a continuation of the broad bargain hunting that began a week ago,” China Bank Securities research director Garie Ouano said.
“For today, the US and China signaled openness to another round of talks,” Ouano said.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the US and China could reopen trade talks, but only if Beijing was willing “to make serious efforts to make structural changes,” according to a report by Reuters.
BDO Unibank Inc. chief market strategist Jonathan Ravelas noted that the market shrugged off the impact of a US-China trade war.
The US slapped import tariffs of 25 percent on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods on July 6, prompting a matching response from China.
But while China has vowed to retaliate to the new tariffs, the lack of a specific response to date has sparked a global relief rally.
“I think market participants have been hunting for bargains for the second quarter earnings season,” Timson Securities equity trader Jervin de Celis said.
“Most index stocks will release their financial reports by next month and since the PSEi has been heavily oversold, investors are taking this chance to buy at attractive prices,” De Celis said.
Foreign funds bought P2.695 billion shares and sold P2.732 billion during the session, for a net selling position of P37.783 million.
More than 1.490 billion shares valued at P5.455 billion, changed hands. Advancers led decliners, 103 to 91, and 46 issues were unchanged.
“Most investors are still in a wait-and-see mode as value turnover has been relatively thin during the week,” Ouano said.
Week-on-week, the PSEi gained 212.47 points or 2.95 percent from 7,186.71 on July 6. The main index lost 1,324.95 or 15.18 percent from 8,724.13 on Jan. 3, the first trading day of 2018.