Trade talks push PSEi above 6,400
The local bourse rose past the 6,400 level on Monday as traders cheered the resumption of trade talks between the world’s two largest economies.
By the end of the session, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) had added 0.46 percent, or 29.34 points, to close at 6,406.13.
Likewise, the broader All Shares Index rose by 0.2 percent, or 7.37 points, to 3,786.59.
A total of 1.08 billion shares worth P5.07 billion changed hands, stock exchange data showed.
Japhet Tantiangco, research head at Philstocks Financial Inc., said the index’s climb was due to hopes that the trade talks between the United States and China “would be productive and would eventually lead to better relations between the two.”
At the same time, traders also got a boost from expectations that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas would cut rates during its meeting next week.
Services firms saw the steepest climb, mostly due to rallies at Bloomberry Resorts Corp. and DigiPlus Interactive Corp., the two most actively traded stocks, respectively.
Bloomberry’s share price ballooned by 18.4 percent to P5.92 each, following the soft launch of its online gaming platform, MegaFUNalo.
DigiPlus, on the other hand, closed higher by 4.68 percent to P64.90 per share.
Other actively traded stocks were SM Investments Corp., up 2.94 percent to P875; BDO Unibank Inc., up 1.35 percent to P157.90; Converge ICT Solutions Inc., up 1.9 percent to P21.40; Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 0.29 percent to P139.60; Ayala Land Inc., down 1.24 percent to P23.95; and International Container Terminal Services Inc., up 1.12 percent to P413.60.
