PSEi sustains gain as Ghost Month nears end

Credit to Author: JORDEENE B. LAGARE| Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2019 16:17:26 +0000

THE stock market managed to sustain its gains on Thursday despite sliding earlier in the day as investors went bargain-hunting again.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange (PSEi) rose by 0.58 percent or 45.31 points to end at 7,892.81, while the wider All Shares increased by 0.36 percent or 16.96 points to finish at 4,765.77.

“The market gained its momentum for the past two trading days [because of] month-end window dressing [and the] end of Ghost Month,” Philstocks Financial Inc. Client Engagement Officer and
Research Associate Piper Chaucer Tan said, adding that “the MSCI rebalancing has already been discounted….”

Philstocks Financial Inc. Research Associate Japhet Louis Tantiangco said the bourse got a lift from “afternoon bargain-hunting.”

“Investors bought ahead of the window-dressing period as tomorrow marked the last trading day for August,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Research and Sales Luis Limlingan said.

AAA Equities Head of Research Christopher Mangun said the majority of investors “continue to trade second liners and speculative issues.”

Both Tan and Tantiangco credited the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) raising the possibility of further monetary easing for the stock market’s performance.

“The market’s performance is also attributed to the BSP comments on RRR (reserve requirement ratio) cuts and a possible interest rate cut to bolster growth to the economy, which is a positive for the equities market,” Tan explained.

The bourse’s performance is similar to those of its American peers, with the Dow Jones rising 1 percent, S&P 500 adding 0.7 percent and Nasdaq gaining 0.4 percent.

In the region, Tokyo dropped 0.1 percent and Shanghai fell 0.1 percent. Seoul lost 0.4 percent, while Mumbai shed 1 percent. Hong Kong, in contrast, climbed 0.3 percent after three days of selling.

In Manila, all subsectors, except property, were in the green. Industrial and mining and oil posted the largest gains, rising by 1.13 percent and 1.07 percent, respectively.

More than 6.35 billion issues, valued at P8.4 billion, changed hands.

Winners led losers, 109 to 87, while 47 issues remained unchanged.

WITH A REPORT FROM AFP

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