Phl stocks buck weak foreign markets

The local stock market ended the week in positive territory, bucking the trend overseas as investors cheered news on bullish local fundamentals.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) inched up 0.21 percent or 10.64 points to close at 5,120.07, while the broader all-shares index fell 0.13 percent or 4.34 points to 3,376.60.

Decliners outpaced advancers, 86 to 72, while 40 stocks did not change. Turnover slipped, with 2.3 billion shares worth P4.56 billion changing hands from 3.14 billion shares worth P5.1 billion a day ago.

“We were against the tide of the financial markets given trends overseas,” Astro C. del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Finance Inc., said in a phone interview.

“The fundamentals of the local economy gave confidence to investors not to mimic what happened to other markets,” Del Castillo said.

An index tracking 11 key indicators pushed the National Statistical Coordination Board to announce that the economy might grow faster in the second quarter compared with the 6.4 percent uptick recorded in the first quarter.

Wall Street closed in the red Thursday due to a questionable US economy and a slower manufacturing growth in China.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped two percent or 250.82 points to 12,573.57, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index slumped 2.2 percent or 30.18 points to 1,325.51.

Del Castillo said the positive news locally saved the day.

Most subindices were in the red, led by mining and oil firms that lost 1.52 percent or 374.75 points to end at 24,351.85 while property companies slipped 0.97 percent or 18.56 points to 1,892.38.

Investors anxiously waited for President Aquino’s executive order on mining. The President had said the new policy on minerals exploitation is scheduled to be released yesterday.

The government wants a higher share in revenues from local mining activities.