Share prices ended mixed Thursday amid a surprising bigger-than-expected economic slump in the second quarter of the year which investors appeared to have disregarded.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was up 69 points to 5,902.58, a 1.18 percent hike.
The broader all shares index was down 29.32 points to 3,485.61, a 0.85 percent hike.
Losers edged gainers 90 to 88 with 46 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P6.53 billion.
The peso closed at 49.05, up from 49.075 on Wednesday. It opened at 40.06 and hit a high of 49.01 and a low of 49.09. Trading turnover reached $587.1 million.
The government announced mid-morning yesterday the economy contracted 16.5 percent in the second quarter, worse than the market consensus of 9.4 percent contraction.
Stockbroker SB Equities Inc. said after the GDP results were released, the PSEi simply declined 0.2 percent before recovering, supported by “the first session of foreign inflow in eight days,” and finishing the session with a market-on-close buying to help the PSEi end in the green.
Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital and Development Corp., said yesterday’s market results indicate that “investors accepted the weakness in the economy and looked ahead to the coming quarters.”
Most actively traded SM Investments Corp. was up P8 to P878. BDO Unibank Inc. was steady at P91. PLDT Inc. was up P17 to P1,370. Bank of the Philippine Islands was steady at P65.50. International Container Terminal Services Inc. was up P0.50 to P97.50. Puregold Price Club Inc. was up P2 to P50. Ayala Land Inc. was up P0.30 to P32.80. Alliance Global Group Inc. was down P0.07 to P5.53. Metro Pacific Investments Corp. was up P0.09 to P3.20. Globe Telecom Inc. was up P12 to P2,118.
