Bargain hunters boost Phl stocks

Buyers went back to the stock market searching for bargains, allowing the main index to arrest a three-day skid.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recovered 0.78 percent or 51.12 points to end at 6,609.01 yesterday, clawing back from an intraday low of 6,393.56 in the morning session.

“The numbers reveal that the recent massacre of share prices, with specific reference to locally listed issues, have opened up more bargain propositions,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., analyst at Accord Capital Securities.

“Investors appear to have made a choice: the downside risks may have significantly narrowed after the PSEi hit close to 6,400 in intraday trades,” Calaycay said.

The local market bucked the trends in regional and global markets like Wall Street as investors have yet to shrug off worries that the US Federal Reserve will scale back on its stimulus program.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 1.43 percent or 216.95 points to 14,960.59 while Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 1.38 percent or 22.48 points to 1,608.90.

Calaycay said the Philippine market traced a different path, with investors making bets when the main index fell below 6,500.

All subindices were in the green, led by holding firms that gained 1.31 percent or 77.08 points to 5,946.74.

Value of shares traded rose to P12.12 billion from P10.35 billion on Wednesday.

For the first time this week, advancers narrowly decliners 85 to 84, while 38 stocks did not change.