PHL shares rise on month-end window dressing
STOCKS clinched gains on Monday on the back of window-dressing activities among investors for the last trading day of the month.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index jumped 69.31 points or 0.83% to 8,365.26. The all-shares index also climbed 34.37 points or 0.70% to 4,891.93.
“I think it’s just month- end window dressing ahead of earnings reports until Nov. 15,” said Joylin F. Telagen, equity research analyst at IB Gimenez Securities, Inc. in a text message.
“It’s the last trading day of the month and we’ve seen lastminute purchases from companies such as SMPH ( SM Prime Holdings, Inc.) and SM (SM Investments Corp.) and even JGS (JG Summit Holdings, Inc.) and GTCAP ( GT Capital Holdings, Inc.), which led the rally today,” said AB Capital Securities, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Lexter A. Azurin via text.
Gainers were led by Citystate Savings Bank, Inc. which rose 10.52% to finish at P9.98 apiece; First Abacus Financial Holdings, Corp. advanced 6.15% to P0.69 per share; and Waterfront Philippines, Inc. rose 5.26% to P1 apiece.
All sectoral indices saw gains on Monday except for financials, which fell 17.10 points or 0.84% to 2,001.06.
On the other hand, holding firms soared 115.32 points or 1.36% to 8,577.89; property surged 52.11 points or 1.33% to 3,945.48; services went up 20.55 points or 1.21% to 1,708.18; mining and oil rose 48.19 points or 0.36% to 13,224.48; and industrials advanced 30.12 points or 0.27% to 10,910.84.
Advancers trumped decliners at 96 to 87, while 58 issues were unchanged. Shares that changed hands expanded to 730.71 million shares worth P6.67 billion from Friday’s 648.85 million shares worth P4.6 billion
For the fifth consecutive trading day, foreigners dumped shares, with net selling coming in at P150.19 million, albeit lower than Friday’s P531.73- million outflow.
In the region, Singapore shares came off 29-month highs to trade lower on Monday as investors booked profits after three straight sessions of gains, while most other Southeast Asian markets rose.
Singapore’s FTSE Straits Times Index (STI) hit its highest since May 2015 before retreating, with financials and industrials being the biggest drags.
“Given that we are at the end of the month and that the STI has had a strong run, it is not surprising to see some mild profittaking,” said Liu Jinshu, director of research at NRA Capital.
Wall Street climbed on Friday as a surge in the tech sector and a rally in Amazon shares helped push the Nasdaq to its best day in nearly a year. Adding to the positive sentiment was the thirdquarter gross domestic product data that showed the US economy unexpectedly maintained a brisk pace of growth, at a 3% annual rate.