PSEi advances on bargain-hunting; SM shares rise

Philippine stocks climbed on Monday as investors saw bargain-hunting opportunities while awaiting changes to the composite index that will take effect on Tuesday.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 0.48% or 30.05 points to end at 6,172.84. The broader all-share index shed 0.24% or 8.20 points to 3,325.15.

“The market got another lift on the back of sustained bargain-hunting,” China Bank Capital Corp. Managing Director Juan Paolo E. Colet said in a Viber message. “Daily value turnover also spiked to more than P8 billion as institutions positioned for the changes to the PSE composite index.”

The stock rally remained prone to selling pressure “especially since we continue to see net selling by foreign investors,” he added.

Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Analyst Claire T. Alviar said the bourse advanced “as investors continued to buy shares given the undervaluation of the PSEi.”

Value turnover went up to PHP 8.48 billion, with 1.79 billion shares changing hands. Value turnover on Friday was PHP 4.63 billion involving 1.09 billion shares.

Analysts said the higher value turnover was driven by the changes in the PSE’s composite index. Last week, the PSE announced changes to its indices effective Sept. 26.

The PSE took out Aboitiz Power Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. from the main index, replacing them with Bloomberry Resorts Corp. and Century Pacific Food, Inc.

SM Investments Corp.’s share price advance of 2.92% had helped lift the bourse given its substantial weight on the PSEi, Ms. Alviar said.

“SM is cheap from a fundamental perspective, and the technicals look promising, so we saw bargain-hunting emerge in that stock,” Mr. Colet said.

Almost all sectoral indices rose on Monday, except mining and oil, which dropped by 0.02% or 2.67 points to 10,384.79.

Holding companies climbed by 0.8% or 46.91 points to 5,861.86; property went up by 0.51% or 13.01 points to 2,565.98; financials gained 0.35% or 6.29 points to 1,794.52; services rose by 0.22% or 3.39 points to 1,491.93; and industrials increased by 0.2% or 18.33 points to 8,824.15.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 89 to 85, while 47 shares were unchanged.

Net foreign selling went up to PHP 316.23 million from PHP 57.56 million on Friday. —Sheldeen Joy Talavera, Reporter