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PHILIPPINE SHARES rose on Monday, with bargain-hunting providing a lift despite data showing a slowdown in Philippine manufacturing activity in May.
The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed by 0.58% or 37.64 points to finish at 6,470.74 on Monday, while the broader all shares index improved by 0.2% or 7.18 points to end at 3,471.05.
“The local bourse gained… as investors continued to hunt for bargains following last week’s market decline near the 6,400 support level,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Analyst Claire T. Alviar said in a Viber message.
The PSEi last week dropped for four straight sessions, registering its worst close for the year so far at 6,371.75 on Thursday before rebounding to 6,433.10 on Friday.
“Overseas, China’s strong May factory activity, which expanded at 51.7, its fastest pace in nearly two years and beat estimates, lifted the sentiment in the region, including the Philippines,” Ms. Alviar added.
Asian share markets rallied on Monday, as investors looked forward to an interest rate cut in Europe and quite possibly Canada as the next step in global policy easing, though sticky inflation threatens to make the process a drawn out affair, Reuters reported.
There was also better news from China as the private Caixin survey showed a pick-up in its main factory index to a two-year top of 51.7 in May, from 51.4 in April.
All of which helped MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan bounce 1.4%, having slid 2.5% last week. Chinese blue chips added 0.3%.
“The local bourse opened the week positively despite a slight dip in the S&P Global Philippines Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for May, which fell to 51.9 from 52.2 in April,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan added in a Viber message. A PMI reading above 50 denotes better operating conditions than the preceding month, while a reading below 50 shows a deterioration.
“Investors now await the Philippine consumer price index release on June 5,” he said.
Sectoral indices were mixed. Financials went up by 3.18% or 61.38 points to 1,986.23; property increased by 2.05% or 49.34 points to 2,452.19; and mining and oil rose by 1.03% or 95.36 points to 9,336.50.
Meanwhile, services dropped by 1.6% or 31.85 points to 1,954.78; holding firms went down by 0.87% or 50.49 points to 5,704.04; and industrials fell by 0.2% or 18.91 points to 9,119.90.
“Among the index members, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. was at the top, surging by 6.2%, following its sharp decline last week. Meanwhile, PLDT Inc. lost the most by 4.73% as investors took some gains from last week,” Ms. Alviar said.
Value turnover decreased to P6.78 billion with 939.03 million shares changing hands from the P22.72 billion and 1.22 billion issues traded on Friday.
Decliners outnumbered advancers, 103 versus 90, while 45 issues closed unchanged.
Net foreign selling went down to P571.39 million on Monday from P5.23 billion on Friday. — R.M.D. Ochave with Reuters
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