PH shares up on bargain hunting
The local bourse opened the trading week in the green as bargain hunting pushed it 1.45-percent higher.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) climbed 1.45 percent, or 84.90 points, to its intraday high of 5,930.92, while wider All Shares gained 1.32 percent, or 45.84 points, to finish at 3,513.37.
Philstocks Financial Inc. said in a market comment that bargain hunting lifted the market on Monday.
It added that Monday’s value turnover of P4.88 billion was below the year-to-date average of P6.46 billion, which implies that investors are on the sidelines amid market uncertainties.
AAA Equities head of research Chris Mangun, meanwhile, said “investors gained optimism and scoped up shares of battered blue chips.”
He also noted investors remained cautious overall as seen in below-average trading volumes.
“The market will continue to move sideways until investors gain confidence that the economic recovery is on track,” Mangun explained.
Philstocks Financial Inc. research analyst Piper Chaucer Tan, on the other hand, said the market is on a “technical bounce.”
He added investors are looking for “specific company narratives” that would dictate the market in the coming trading days.
“Corporate earnings may not give a boost, unless [there are] surprise results, but the general consensus is that negative earnings is widely expected,” Tan explained.
Wall Street rallied on Friday with Dow Jones and S&P 500 gaining 0.17 percent and 0.06 percent each, while Nasdaq declined by 0.87 percent.
Most Asian markets mirrored the positive sentiment as Shanghai climbed 0.75 percent, Seoul gained 1.48 percent, Jakarta rose 0.27 percent, Bangkok inched up by 0.02 percent and Ho Chi Minh was up by 0.21 percent, while Tokyo shed 0.39 percent, Hong Kong declined by 0.63 percent and Singapore lost 0.53 percent.
Most sectors in Manila improved with property in the lead at 2.56 percent, while financials declined by 0.54 percent.
Total volume turnover was at 82.96 billion shares valued at P4.88 billion.
Gainers edged out losers at 125 to 74, while 45 securities were unchanged.