Local shares eke out gains in lackluster trading
LOCAL SHARES closed with some gains on Monday as some investors bought back oversold stocks while others stayed on the side watching how interest rates in the US would be moving towards the end of the year.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index ( PSEi) finished higher by 50.46 points or 0.63% to 7,981.21. The all-shares index also rose by 25.51 points or 0.54% to 4,723.01.
Joseph Y. Roxas, president of Eagle Equities, Inc., described yesterday’s trading as “lackluster” while investors watched to see what the US Federal Reserve will do next.
Joylin F. Telagen, research head at IB Gimenez Securities, said after last week’s better-thanexpected economic growth rate and a mixed bag of corporate earnings data, investors were again focusing on the Fed for signs of a possible rate hike.
She said that with the expected speech of Fed Chair Janet Yellen this week, the PSEi would likely consolidate at the 8,000 level. Ms. Yellen is scheduled to speak before global monetary policy makers on Aug. 26 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
After the speech, Ms. Telagen said the local shares bellwether “will likely break out to around 8,200 or break down at 7,800,” depending on the “normalization path” that the US central bank will take before its meeting next month.
Ahead of the speech, some traders are optimistic of the direction of local stocks, which have stayed above the 7,900-mark for a while.
“I’m cautiously bullish because 7,900 seems to be holding,” said Miko A. Sayo, a trader at Angping & Associates Securities Inc.
That optimism was felt among sectoral indices, which managed to post some gains, led by property shares, up 39.74 points or 1.10% to 3,631.31. Holding firms were up 59.25 points or 0.75% to 7,905.88. Services followed with an 11.02-point increase or 0.69% to 1,601.34.
Trading value, however, slipped to P6.32 billion, down 27% from P8.68 billion on Friday, with 961.27 million stocks changing hands.
Advancers outnumbered decliners, 107 to 84, while 50 issues finished unchanged.
Foreign investors bought more shares than they sold, resulting in a net buying of P222.43 million worth of stocks, a reversal of Friday’s net sales worth P489.6 million
The day’s top gainers were Liberty Flour Mills, Inc., Harbor Star Shipping Services, Inc., SOCResources, Inc., Manila Mining Corp. and Vitarich Corp. Liberty Telecoms Holding, Inc. was the top loser followed by Benguet Corp. “B.”
Other Southeast Asian stocks remained sluggish on Monday, in line with broader Asian markets, on expectations that a signal might emerge from a US Federal Reserve gathering this week in Wyoming that the central bank is gearing up to raise interest rates.
Sentiment also got hit after Fed Vice- Chairman Stanley Fischer on Sunday gave an upbeat assessment of the US economy.