BOURSE REBOUNDS, GAINS 1.22%
The local stock barometer yesterday rebounded on selective buying of large-cap stocks by domestic investors.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recouped 92.06 points or 1.22 percent to close at 7,652.53.
The rebound was led by the financial counter, which gained 2.28 percent ahead of another 1percentage point cut in the reserve requirement by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to 18 percent which would take effect on June 1.
“The market had partly anticipated the cut and timing. And this is likely to partly explain the peso’s recent underperformance,” ING Philippines economist Joey Cuyegkeng said.
“In the meantime, peso liquidity in the system would be high in the very short term. Banks would likely use part of the liquidity to finance the economy through higher loans. If this liquidity is not removed, economic growth should be enhanced. But the trade gap would widen eventually and result in underlying weakness of Philippine peso,” Cuyegkeng added.
The holding firm counter also added 1.26 percent while the services and property counters likewise firmed up.
On the other hand, the mining/oil counter fell by 2.49 percent while the industrial counter also slipped.
Value turnover for the day amounted to P6.23 billion.
Despite the PSEi’s rebound, market breadth was negative. There were 109 decliners that edged out 74 advancers while 57 stocks were unchanged.
Selective buying by local investors supported the PSEi’s rebound as foreigners remained net sellers to the tune of P131.27 million.
BPI led the PSEi higher, surging by 5.32 percent.
DMCI also advanced by 3.7 percent, while SM Prime, SM Investments, Metrobank, BDO, Metro Pacific and Megaworld all added over 1 percent.
Ayala Land and Meralco also contributed gains.
Meanwhile, the day’s most actively traded stock was Now Corp., which surged by 23.7 percent and was the day’s most actively traded stock.
Megawide gained 4.23 percent while Bloomberrg added 0.51 percent.
On the other hand, Ayala Corp., URC, Jollibee and Globe all slipped.