Philippine stocks rebound as players pick up blue chips

Philippine stocks rebounded on Tuesday as players picked up cheap shares of blue chips following the market’s recent weakness.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.66% or 38.98 points to close at 5,867.04, while the broader all shares index increased by 0.28% or 9.98 points to 3,558.88.

“The index bounced back from oversold levels following [Monday’s] market meltdown as investors pick up blue chips that have been sold down to multi-year lows,” AP Securities, Inc. Research Head Alfred Benjamin R. Garcia said in a Viber message.

“The benchmark stock index rebounded modestly on the back of bargain hunting and net foreign buying. Monday’s plunge brought many blue chips to compelling valuations, making them attractive to both opportunistic traders and long-term investors,” China Bank Capital Corp. Managing Director Juan Paolo E. Colet said.

However, uncertainty on the political and economic fronts continues to weigh on sentiment, he said.

Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said the PSEi’s rise on Tuesday was likely a technical rebound following its drop to a near seven-month low on Monday amid heavy selling pressure.

“[The] market continues to await the release of inflation and GDP (gross domestic product) figures, along with corporate earnings reports, to confirm its next direction,” he said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority will release October inflation data on Nov. 5 (Wednesday) and third-quarter GDP data on Nov. 7 (Friday).

A BusinessWorld poll of 17 analysts yielded a median estimate of 1.8% for October headline inflation. This would be faster than the 1.7% clip in September but within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 1.4-2.2% forecast. It would also mark the eighth month in a row that inflation was below the BSP’s 2-4% annual target.

Meanwhile, Philippine GDP likely grew by 5.3% in the third quarter, based on the median forecast of 18 economists and analysts separately polled by BusinessWorld. This is slower than the 5.5% expansion in the second quarter and is below the government’s 5.5%-6.5% full-year goal.

Sectoral indices ended mixed on Tuesday. Financials climbed by 2.08% or 39.60 points to 1,936.18; property increased by 1.94% or 41.21 points to 2,164.36; and services rose by 0.12% or 2.81 points to 2,268.06.

Meanwhile, industrials declined by 1.23% or 108.43 points to 8,648.65; mining and oil shed 1.2% or 150.41 points to 12,337.88; and holding firms decreased by 0.06% or 3.16 points to 4,751.63.

Market breadth was positive as advancers outnumbered decliners, 108 to 83, while 57 names were unchanged.

Value turnover went down to PHP 6.37 billion on Tuesday with 538.81 million shares traded from the PHP 9.80 billion with 801.95 million issues exchanged on Monday.

Net foreign buying was at PHP 339.79 million, a reversal of the PHP 1.33 billion in net selling recorded on Monday. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera