By Leslie D. Venzon
MANILA, Aug. 3 (PNA) — The benchmark stock index bucked a tumble in the Asian markets Monday as it managed to eke out gains on bargain-hunting.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) extended winning streak to a fourth day and advanced 23.26 points to 7,573.26 from Friday’s 7,550 finish.
“The investing public appears to be rather ‘uninspired’ at present. Though there were ‘bargain’ opportunities that surfaced as prices dipped in the recent weeks, the pick-up has not been as it had previously been in prior dips of similar short-term reversals,” said Jun Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp.
A wide swath of the Asian region is trading lower as fresh evidence of a weak Chinese economy surfaced. Japanese stocks snapped a four-session advance.
At home, the market’s advance was led by holding firms that increased 0.65 percent.
The mining and oil and industrial counters were in the red.
Volume of transactions reached 1.50 billion shares valued at Php6.56 billion.
Market breadth was negative as decliners outpaced advancers, 82 to 77, while 46 issues were unchanged. (PNA)