Gaming firms lift PSEi

THE LOCAL stock barometer ended with a modest gain yesterday, boosted by a strong rebound in gaming stocks as China relaxed visa rules for mainland Chinese.

As regional markets digested the much-anticipated default by Greece on its $1.7-billion debt to the International Monetary Fund, the Philippine Stock

Exchange index (PSEi) gained 10.65 points or 0.14 percent to close at 7,575.15.

The main index ended higher for the first time in two days. The index fell to as low as 7,484.52 in intraday trade but bounced back to the 7,500 level as investors prowled for bargains whenever the index revisited the 7,400 mark.

The day’s gains were led by the holding firm, services, mining/oil and property counters. On the other hand, the financial and industrial counters slipped. Value turnover for the day amounted to P6.46 billion. There were 87 advancers that outnumbered 78 decliners while 46 stocks were un- changed.

The PSEi was buoyed by the 5.69-percent gain by Bloomberry, which rose as investors took heart from the news that China was extending transit visas to seven from five days. This means more business out of mainland Chinese who visit gaming hubs like Macau on transit visas.

In New York, shares of Macau casino operators rose 5 percent overnight as the new visa rules took effect yesterday.

AGI, which owns half of gaming operator Travellers, also gained 2.76 percent. Travellers itself jumped 1.16 percent while the SM group’s PLC surged 8.47 percent.