The local bourse’s main index made a remarkable recovery last week, closing at almost 6,000 points on Friday (November 21), boosted by hopes that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will reduce key interest rates before the end of this year, among others.
On Friday, the PSEi closed at 5,997.13 points, up 1.12 percent, marking the second straight day the index closed at above 5,900 points.
To recall, the PSEi finished at 5,584.35 last November 14 (Friday), which is a five-year low. This happened against the backdrop of former Ako-Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also pocketed money from the flood project scam, raising concerns on governance issues.
The PSEi then bounced back to 5779.12 on November 7 (Monday), also boosted by bargain hunting.
“The local bourse ended higher, still driven by bargain hunting. Moreover, the investor sentiment improved after the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) signaled the possibility of another rate cut by the end of the year. This expectation continued to support buying activity in today’s session,” Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, said.
Most of the sectoral gauges also rose on November 21, led by Holding Firms, which inched up 2.18 percent, followed by Property, 1.48 percent; Services, 0.65 percent; Financials, 0.46 percent; and Industrial, 0.34 percent.
Only the Mining and Oil index ended in the red, declining by 1.29 percent.
Volume reached 1.67 billion shares, amounting to P9.15 billion.
Advancers led decliners at 118 to 75 while 53 shares were unchanged.
Aside from bargain-hunting, Philstocks Financial, Inc., in a market report, said “investors also digested the Philippines’ balance of payment position last October, which posted a surplus of $706 million.”
PNA PHOTO