PSEi gains but not yet out of the woods

Philippines shares managed to recover on Thursday as investors bought cheap stocks, boosted by improving signals from the United States.

An analyst, however, warned that without positive catalysts to excite the market, the local bourse could plunge back to its pandemic low.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) inched up by 0.3 percent or 17.53 points to close at 5,835.59.

The broader All Shares Index also went up by 0.26 percent or 9.05 points to 3,543.43.

Almost all sectors booked gains, with only industrial seeing a dip of 0.16 percent.

The market, however, still saw tepid trading, with investors in a wait-and-see mode as the government has yet to release the country’s third-quarter economic growth.

Net value turnover stood at P5.12 billion, still below the year-to-date average of P5.85 billion.

“The local market bounced back as investors hunted for bargains after the preceding day’s decline,” Philstocks financial research manager Japhet Tantiangco said.

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“The positive cues from Wall Street driven by the US Supreme Court’s skepticism over President Donald Trump’s tariff policies also helped in today’s session,” he added.

Ron Acoba, chief investment strategist at Trading Edge Consultancy, meanwhile, said the capital index was “in danger of breaking lower.”

If the PSEi further drops below 5,800, the market may see its worst finish at the 5,700 level in four years.

“That level is actually the index’s last line of support as a break below that may send it to as low as its pandemic low around 4500,” Acoba said.