Third straight record close for PSE Index
The Philippine Stock Exchange index on Monday closed at a new record for the third straight session with an analyst saying this was due to fund managers returning to the market after the Ghost month.
The PSEi finished at 8,294.14 up by 113.29 points or 1.39 percent from last Friday’s previous record close of 8,180.85.
"The rally indicates that foreign funds, institutions are coming back to the market. They're able to push market upward," Renz Cruz of Regina Capital said in a phone interview with Daily Manila Shimbun.
But Cruz said it's "still too early" to say there is a bull run.
The All Shares Index closed higher at 4,886.48, up by 50.15 points or 1.04 percent. Four of six sectoral indices closed in the green with the holding firms sector posting the biggest gain of 2.29 percent.
Volume reached 1.3 billion shares valued at P8.109 billion. In the broader market, there were 121 gainers, 83 decliners and 64 unchanged. Foreign funds were net sellers, with P3.37 billion worth of stocks sold and P3.32 billion bought.
Most active shares were led by SM Investments Corp., up 4.01 percent to P868.50, Ayala Corp., up 4.68 percent to P972 and Ayala Land up 2,28 percent to P46.
Meanwhile, the peso closed at P51.10 against the US dollar from Friday's P51.165. Volume at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $502.90 million from the previous $638.60 million.
Cruz said fund managers are positioning. "These stocks gained after big institutions invested," he added.
However, Cruz said market may pause as the US central bank is expected to hold an inflation rate meeting on September 18 and 19 and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will meet on the 21st.
"We may expect movement. Depending on these meetings, there may be a temporary shock in the market," he said.
Cruz said a strong market is helpful to the exports and business sector.
In a statement, PSE President and CEO Ramon Monzon said “the PSEi’s ascent was mostly in-step with gains in Wall Street and other Asian markets. We are pleased to see the momentum continuing behind investor optimism over the market’s prospects”. Year-to-date, the PSEi has gained 21.2 percent. Ella Dionisio/DMS
