LOCAL shares on Wednesday continued to climb as investor sentiment got a boost from the improvement in October factory activity and the successful initial public offering (IPO) of Villar’s AllDay Marts, Inc.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) went up by 78.71 points or 1.10% on Wednesday to close at 7,184.72, while the all-shares index gained 31.05 points or 0.70% to 4,433.09.
“The market ended higher as investors may have felt optimistic over the positive manufacturing report for the month of October, and as corporate earnings results continue to be released,” Darren Blaine T. Pangan, trader at Timson Securities, Inc., said in a Viber message.
IHS Markit reported on Tuesday that the Philippines Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) hit a seven-month high to 51 in October, the strongest PMI since March. IHS Markit noted there were signs of improvement in demand as new orders stabilized after six months of decline.
Juanis G. Barredo, chief technical analyst at COL Financial Group, Inc., noted that the benchmark index’s gains were led by SM Prime Holdings, Inc., Ayala Land, Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands, Ayala Corp., and BDO Unibank, Inc.
Market sentiment got a lift from the strong debut of AllDay, a supermarket chain led by tycoon Manuel B. Villar, on the stock exchange.
“Strong demand for its limited share offer while being priced at P0.60 per share, gave traders both large and small, a new place to dabble and chance for a possible swing to P1 or over,” Mr. Barredo said. “We hope such optimism can allow the index to recoup towards its two-week high of 7,326 — this being [its] next resistance.”
Majority of the sectoral indices posted gains on Wednesday except for mining and oil, which declined by 33.56 points or 0.34% to end at 9,833.97.
Meanwhile, property picked up 102.12 points or 3.25% to 3,238.44, while financials rose 27.48 points or 1.77% to 1,577.67.
Industrials improved by 67.25 points or 0.63% to close at 10,717.57, while holding firms added 13.59 points or 0.19% to finish at 7,057.83. Services also inched up by 2.53 points or 0.13% to 1,898.32.
Value turnover edged higher to P7.52 billion with 2.33 billion shares switching hands on Wednesday, up from the P7.49 billion with 930.47 million shares traded the previous day.
Advancers beat decliners, 104 versus 99, as 46 names remain unchanged.
Net foreign selling stood at P23.75 million, declining from the P177.79 million recorded on Tuesday.
“Participants may be looking forward to the release of several reports in the coming days, to get a clearer sense of the current state of the economy,” Timson Securities’ Mr. Pangan said.
“Support seems to be at the 6,940 area, while 7,320 may be considered the nearest resistance level,” he added. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte
