Stocks extend gains on sustained bargain hunting

The Philippine stock market stayed in positive territory for the second straight session yesterday with investors continuing to pick up bargain stocks.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Composite index (PSEi) closed at 6,286.24, up 17.46 points or 0.28 percent.

Likewise, the broader All Shares index gained 11.3 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 3,381.36.

Claire Alviar, research analyst at PhilStocks Financial, said investors continued to hunt for bargains from last week’s decline.

“However, during the intraday, the market moved sideways amid a lack of fresh leads. Some investors were also on the sidelines seen by weak market participation,” she said.

The sectoral gauges were up as well with mining and oil, services and holding firms among the biggest gainers.

Only the financials bucked the trend and finished in the red.

Total value turnover, however, was thin despite the market’s gains, reaching only P3.8 billion even as market breadth was positive, 99 to 77 while 51 issues were unchanged.

Razon-led ICTSI rallied 4.49 percent to finish at P186 per share while Ayala Land Inc. declined by 1.81 percent to close at P24.40 per share. Semirara Mining & Power Corp. recovered by 3.43 percent to end at P39.25 per share while telco giant PLDT lost 1.90 percent to close at P1,654 per share.

Asian shares were mostly lower yesterday as investors weighed oil prices, inflation worries and corporate earnings.

Markets are likely to remain volatile through the upcoming earnings season.

The US market has been lurching mostly lower for weeks on worries that the Federal Reserve and other central banks will slam the brake too hard on the economy in hopes of bringing down high inflation. If they’re too aggressive with their interest-rate hikes, they could cause a recession.

A key report released last week indicated expectations are easing for inflation among households.