Bargain hunting, selective buying lift Philippine shares

Philippine stocks rose on Tuesday as investors bought shares at lower prices following the market’s latest slide but stayed cautious amid lingering headwinds.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.37% or 22.31 points to close at 6,105.99, while broader all shares index increased by 0.17% or 5.62 points to end at 3,384.57.

The PSEi opened Tuesday’s trading session at 6,096.61, higher than Monday’s close of 6,083.68. It moved between 6,080.32 and 6,124.90 throughout the day.

“The local index closed higher as market participants engaged in bargain hunting, taking advantage of lower valuations following (Monday’s) decline,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

“However, investor caution remained evident as trading volume stayed subdued amid persistent macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties,” he added.

Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Manager Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco likewise said the main index advanced as investors hunted for bargains.

“Net foreign inflows worth PHP 164.54 million helped in the climb,” Mr. Tantiangco said. “Sentiment remains cautious, however, as reflected in other figures.”

The net buying seen on Tuesday was a turnaround from the net foreign selling worth P311.05 million seen in the previous session.

Most sectoral indices ended lower on Tuesday. Financials dropped by 0.78% or 14.92 points to 1,901.36; property declined by 0.29% or 5.43 points to 1,867.73; holding firms decreased by 0.25% or 10.77 points to 4,352.20; and industrial went down by 0.2% or 15.70 points to 7,968.24.

Meanwhile, mining and oil increased by 2.4% or 505 points to 21,540.71, and services jumped by 1.81% or 58.89 points to 3,315.53.

“Buying on index heavyweight International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), who was also the day’s top index gainer gave the market a boost,” Mr. Tantiangco said. ICTSI shares rose by PHP 23.50 or 2.52% to close at PHP 957 apiece.

“JG Summit Holdings, Inc. was the day’s index laggard, falling 2.15% to PHP 20.50,” he added.

Market breadth was negative as decliners outnumbered advancers, 102 to 89, while 71 names were unchanged.

Value turnover climbed to PHP 4.39 billion on Tuesday with 558.78 million shares traded from the PHP 3.89 billion with 699.78 million issues that changed hands on Monday.

Meanwhile, a surge in the yen and mixed economic data sent Asian stocks lower on Tuesday, while fresh Iranian threats in the Gulf drove commodity prices and Treasury bond yields higher, Reuters reported.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.5% lower.

Oil prices rose for a third day in Asia, with Brent crude futures climbing 1.4% to USD 98.34 a barrel, after Iran threatened to retaliate on Tuesday against the US with “economic warfare” and said it had fired an advanced missile at US warships. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera with Reuters