Vaccine optimism fuels PSEi vigor for 3rd straight day

The stock barometer climbed past the 6,500 mark on Thursday as investors took heart from the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 83.99 points or 1.29 percent to close at 6,581, gaining for the third straight session.

“The PSEi rallied further, led by gains in large-cap holding firms. The decline in new COVID-19 cases reported [on Wednesday] as well as progress on the rollout of vaccines may have improved the sentiment,” AAA Equities head of research Christopher Mangun said.

New record

A total of 6,666 new COVID-19 cases were reported on March 24, still much higher than the previous months albeit lower than the seven-day average. Hours after the bourse closed on Thursday, however, the country reported its highest number of cases in a day yet at 8,773, with active cases almost reaching 100,000.

“Despite the [PSEi’s] rally, the general sentiment remains very cautious. We may see a pullback as it approaches stronger resistance levels,” Mangun said.

With one more trading to go and the PSEi so far up by 2.3 percent for the week, Mangun said the PSEi could still corner some gains.

Except for the financial counter, all subindices ended in the green. The holding firm and mining/oil counters both advanced by over 2 percent, while the property counter added 1.24 percent.

Overwhelmed

Value turnover for the day amounted to P6.1 billion. Domestic hands kept the market steady as foreigners posted a net selling position of P783.5 million.

There were 136 advancers that overwhelmed 62 decliners, while 50 stocks were unchanged.

URC led the PSEi higher with its 3.94-percent gain, while property developer Megaworld rose by 2.07 percent.

Puregold, SM Investments and SM Prime all added over 1 percent, while Ayala Land, Metrobank and AEV firmed up by less than 1 percent.

Outside the PSEi, notable gainers included Basic Energy, Semirara, Abacore and PHA, which surged by 24.66 percent, 11 percent, 10 percent and 9.85 percent, respectively.

On the other hand, Metro Pacific, BPI and PLDT all slipped by less than 1 percent.

Newly listed DDMPR, meanwhile, fell below its initial public offering price on the second day of trading. It lost 0.44 percent to close at P2.24 per share. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla