PHILIPPINE SHARES EKE OUT MODEST GAINS
REVERSING early losses, Philippine shares managed to cap the day with modest gains. Jun Calaycay, Accord Capital Equities Corp. analyst, said that weak economic numbers spurred confidence in equities, pulling US indexes off the day’s low, with the S& P500 writing yet another record.
“Anticipations the Fed will leave QE3 [ quantitative easing program] earnings untouched at the conclusion of its two- day meeting Wednesday was strengthened even more by below forecast factory output and housing data,” Calaycay said.
After finding itself on the red side in most parts of Tuesday’s trading, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) still managed to end on the green side, rising slightly by 0.06 percent or 3.65 points to 6,543.46, but the wider all-shares index went down 0.03 percent or 2.37 points to close at 3,961.79.
“Prices at the local stock market as measured by the PSEi spent most of the day on the low side, but managed to attract bargain hunters to snap a two-session decline,” Calaycay added.
In the morning trade, the benchmark index dipped by 33.78 points or 0.52 percent to 6,506.03.
Three of the sub-indices likewise registered losses, while the other half somehow succeeded in posting slight gains.
Holding firms went up by 0.61 percent or 36.43 points to end at 5,974.04, followed by services, which picked up by 0.35 percent or 7.04 points to 1,995.42. Industrial also posted a slight increase, advancing by 0.04 percent or 3.69 points to 9,347.50.
Property, on the other hand, slumped by 1.14 percent or 29.86 points to 2,600.00, while the financial counter went down by 0.15 percent or 2.37 points to 1,695.53.
Mining and oil was flat at 0.03 percent or 4.37 points to end at 12,893.41. Some of the most actively traded stocks were Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., SM Prime Holdings Inc. ( SMPH), DMCI Holdings Inc., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., GT Capital Holdings Inc., Alliance Global Group Inc., SM Investments Corp., Ayala Land Inc., Ayala Corp., and Universal Robina Corp.
Toward the end of the session, the share price of SMPH plummeted by 5.52 percent to P18.50 apiece.
Trading in the stock market remained shut on Monday as voters headed to the precincts to elect barangay (village) leaders. There will be no trading on Friday to observe All Saint’s Day.
Last week, Philippines shares slipped -1 percent to pull the PSEi back within what appears to be a developing 5-percent to 6-percent trading band and below the 6,600-point line.
In Friday’s trades, the 6,500point support was successfully tested, with the index checking the decline at 6505.20 before eventually closing the session at 6539.81.