Share prices soar nearly 3% on bargain hunting

Share prices on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) spiraled higher by almost 3 percent on Tuesday, as investors started to hunt for bargains following several days a losing streak, GMA News reported.

Positive sentiment from overseas further buoyed the market.

The benchmark PSEi surged by 212.94 points or 2.89 percent to close at 7,571.15. The broader All Shares gained 92.81 points or 2.13 percent at 4,460.38.

“Overall, I think we just started to bargain hunt today after so many days of selling. There was some positive news from the Philippine visit to China because of some good will seen,” Luis A. Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp., said in a phone interview.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte, with an entourage of nfearly 300 government officials and business leaders, flew to China, a development which may have sparked positive investor sentiment.

Limlingan also cited positive economic data from the United States, particularly the expansion of industrial output.

“Internationally, in the States industrial production was higher in September. If production is doing well, then the biggest economy is running well,” he said.

These developments may have helped soothe the concerns regarding the Fed rate hike later this year.

The bellwether PSEi closed negatively in eight out of the nine previous trading days, except when it finished higher on Friday – also on bargain hunting.

More than 1.353 billion shares, valued at P8.352 billion, changed hands. Winners led losers, 123 to 68, and 35 issues were unchanged.

Net foreign selling reached P448.512 million. Foreign investors sold a total of P4.378 billion worth of shares while the buying amounted to P3.930 billion during the session.