Share prices ended up Wednesday on bargain hunting.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index was up 144.53 points to 6,341.24, a 2.33 percent hike.
The broader all shares index was up 64.61 points to 3,899.39, a 1.68 percent hike.
Gainers edged losers 140 to 74 with 47 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P13.99 billion, including a P5.77-billion special block sale of Ayala Corp.
The peso closed at 48.15 to the dollar, down from 48.145 on Tuesday.
The currency opened at 48.125 and hit a high of 48.10 and a low of 48.175. Trading turnover reached $746.88 million.
Chris Mangun, head of research at AAA Southeast Equities Inc., said the market posted its “biggest daily advance in the last three months.”
“Several blue chips ended with substantial gains, led by large-cap holding firms and property issues. This is the first time that investors were willing to come in at higher prices after just supporting most issues as they went lower in the last three months,” Mangun said.
“Investors may start to gain confidence and finally appreciate the positive vaccine developments. The big question is whether this is the beginning of a new rally or if it is just window-dressing for the end of the month. The next few trading days will reveal this to us,” he added.
Mike Enriquez, Sunlife chief investment officer, meanwhile said the market’s uptick is more of bargain hunting in the backdrop of the MSCI rebalancing.
Most actively traded Ayala Land Inc. was up P0.65 to P32.65. Aboitiz Power Corp. was down P0.50 to P20.50. BDO Unibank Inc. was up P0.30 to P101.40. Puregold Price Club Inc. was up P2.50 to P35.50. International Container Terminal Services Inc. was up P7.60 to P145.60. Megaworld Corp. was up P0.06 to P2.81. SM Investments Corp. was up P17.50 to P930. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was up P1.35 to P33.90. Ayala Corp. was up P23 to P742.
