Share prices ended up Tuesday on bargain- hunting amid geo-political concern that pulled the peso to lower territories.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was up 68.66 points to 7,440.91, a 0.93 percent hike.
The broader all shares index was up 21.85 points to 3,38.51, a 0.56 percent hike.
Losers edged gainers 98 to 94 with 54 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P12.85 billion.
The peso closed at 51.45 to the dollar, down from 51.38 on Monday.
The currency opened at 51.40, an intraday high and hit a low of 51.48. Trading turnover reached $782.4 million.
Asian currencies fell on Tuesday, reversing gains made in the past session after Russia ordered troops into two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine in a dramatic escalation of a crisis that some fear could unleash a full-scale war, Reuters reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement drew international condemnation and immediate US sanctions to halt US business activity in the breakaway regions and ban import of all goods from those areas.
“Risk sentiment has soured, but the public holiday in the US has likely limited what would have been a sharper market reaction,” analysts at NAB markets wrote in a note to clients.
Stockbroker SB Equities Inc. noted that shares “bucked another global sell-off from heightened Ukraine-Russia tensions on Tuesday, bouncing from a three-day pullback.”
This developed in the backdrop of “value-hunting on select blue chips and optimism that pandemic restrictions could be eased in the capital region to the lowest Alert Level 1 in March following calls by various business groups and select Metro Manila mayors,” SB Equities added.
Most actively traded Citicore Energy REIT Corp. was up P0.29 to P2.84. SM Investments Corp. was up P35 to P895. International Container Terminal Services Inc. was up P8 to P220. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was down P0.05 to P39.85. Dito CME Holdings Inc. was up P0.29 to P6.90. Solar Power Nueva Ecija Corp. was up P0.06 to P1.92. Ayala Corp. was steady at P860. Bank of the Philippine Islands was down P0.70 to P99. Ayala Land Inc. was down P0.20 to P39.50. BDO Unibank Inc. was steady at P135.
