Index bucks global slump, rises despite thin trades

The stock market rose slightly yesterday on thin trade, managing to buck the global slump.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was up 15.35 points or 0.19 percent to close at 7,876.40.

Likewise, the broader All Shares gauge was up 7.54 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 4,843.44.

Likewise, most sectors were in positive territory, with the industrial and financials gauges leading the gainers.

On the other hand, the mining and oil took a hit and was down 1.53 percent as was the services index which was down 0.55 percent.

Total value turnover remained thin at P5.086 billion even as market breadth was positive 120 to 78, while 46 issues were unchanged.

Traders and analysts said risk averse investors continue to translate to weaker sentiment and weaker volumes or shorter holding period for investors.

In all, there is risk-off sentiment that is deepening because of global growth concerns.

“Regional stocks declined, while most of the sovereign bonds were higher. The Indonesian central bank said it’s buying government debt to support its currency.

Emerging Asian currencies also came under pressure amid fears of contagion as investors dumped Turkish assets after the nation engineered a currency crunch after the lira tumbled more than two percent against the dollar,” said BDO Research.

Thus, there is risk aversion prevalent across the globe due to concerns over US recession.

While yesterday’s stock market performance bucked the global slump, traders said the thin volume reflected the riskoff sentiment.