PSEi back above 6,400 on strong buying interest

PHILIPPINE STOCKS rebounded on Tuesday to return above the 6,400 line on improved buying interest as a stronger peso and gains on Wall Street boosted sentiment.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) jumped by 1.97% or 125.44 points to close at 6,474.60, while the broader all shares index went up by 0.88% or 31.63 points to end at 3,593.10.

This was the PSEi’s best close in nearly a month or since it finished at 6.487.53 on Jan. 15.

“The PSEi ended sharply higher, rebounding from [Monday’s] decline as buying interest returned to the market. Sentiment was supported by the peso holding firm against the US dollar, which encouraged renewed foreign inflows during today’s session,” Luis A. Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corp., said in a Viber message. “Gains were broad-based as investors took advantage of lower prices amid improving currency stability.”

“The local market rose on the back of the local currency’s appreciation. The positive cues from Wall Street also helped in Tuesday’s climb,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Manager Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.

On Monday, the peso surged to a near four-month high of P58.455 against the dollar amid easing geopolitical tensions.

It weakened by 7.5 centavos to close at P58.53 versus the greenback on Tuesday as players took caution before the release of a slew of US data.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose solidly after a shaky start on Monday, as technology stocks found their footing following last week’s artificial intelligence-sparked sell-off, while investors waited for key economic data that could shed light on the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate path, Reuters reported.

After surpassing 50,000 points for the first time on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20.20 points or 0.04% to 50,135.87. The S&P 500 gained 32.52 points or 0.47%, to 6,964.82; and the Nasdaq Composite gained 207.46 points or 0.9% to 23,238.67.

Coming closer in the pipeline is the January nonfarm payrolls report due on Wednesday, which was delayed by a partial government shutdown, and the closely watched January consumer price index on Friday.

All sectoral indices closed in the green on Tuesday. Services surged by 4.39% or 113.24 points to 2,689.17; financials increased by 1.43% or 30.54 points to 2,158.67; holding firms went up by 1.17% or 60.41 points to 5,183.30; mining and oil rose by 0.47% or 84.05 points to 17,891.72; property advanced by 0.43% or 9.62 points to 2,214.40; and industrials climbed by 0.29% or 26.79 points to 9,126.02.

Advancers outnumbered decliners, 110 to 90, while 63 names closed unchanged.

Value turnover rose to P6.86 billion on Tuesday with 754.25 million shares traded from the P6.75 billion with 807.04 million issues that changed hands on Monday.

Net foreign buying ballooned to P1.01 billion from P553.15 million in the previous session. — A.G.C. Magno with Reuters