PSEi rises further as foreigners turn net buyers

Shares closed higher on Tuesday as foreigners turned net buyers after nine straight sessions of selling before the Philippine central bank’s policy meeting and amid extended bargain-hunting and window-dressing activities.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.42% or 26.59 points to close at 6,299.05 on Tuesday, while the broader all shares index gained by 0.97% or 33.32 points to end at 3,441.09.

“The local bourse extended its gains as investors continued to hunt for bargain stocks. In addition, foreign investors were net buyers this session after nine consecutive days of net foreign selling,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Analyst Claire T. Alviar said in a Viber message.

Net foreign buying stood at P28.94 million on Tuesday versus the P403.22 million in net selling recorded on Monday.

“Investors were also anticipating the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) meeting this week for clues on the timeline of interest rate cuts,” Ms. Alviar added.

The Monetary Board will revisit its policy settings anew on Thursday, June 27. All 15 analysts in a BusinessWorld poll conducted last week expect the BSP to keep its policy rate at a 17-year high of 6.5% for the sixth straight meeting.

The central bank raised borrowing costs by 450 basis points (bps) from May 2022 to October 2023 to help bring down elevated inflation.

BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. earlier said the Monetary Board could kick off its easing cycle as early as August, with 25-50 bps in cuts expected in the second semester as they have become “less hawkish than before.”

“Philippine shares rallied just a point shy of the 6,300 level as investors continued to window-dress ahead of the end of semester,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan added in a Viber message.

“Meanwhile, US equities closed mixed to start the last week of June, with investors shifting from big technology stocks to other sectors like banks and energy,” he added.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq tumbled over 1%, dragged lower by a 7% drop by artificial intelligence bellwether Nvidia as investors rotated out of technology stocks, Reuters reported. The Dow Jones, however, rallied 0.7% to a one-month high.

Majority of sectoral indices closed higher. Services climbed by 2.24% or 43.10 points to 1,961.20; property went up by 1.47% or 35.92 points to 2,476.53; financials increased by 0.26% or 5.02 points to 1,884.48; and mining and oil rose by 0.17% or 14.68 points to 8,545.19.

Meanwhile, holding firms declined by 0.92% or 51.22 points to 5,507 and industrials went down by 0.17% or 15.84 points to 8,827.03.

Value turnover declined to P4.19 billion on Tuesday with 360.42 million issues switching hands from the P6.17 billion with 356.23 million shares traded on Monday.

Advancers edged out decliners, 93 versus 92, while 52 names closed Tuesday’s session unchanged. — R.M.D. Ochave with Reuters