Local stocks on Friday concluded another session with a new record after investors  continued to welcome good news both from the domestic and international fronts.

“The PSEi [Philippine Stock Exchange index] managed to avoid the general downtrend in Asia today, an encouraging sign for the sustainability of last year’s impressive performance.  These positive developments, including favorable inflation data, help support our good start to the year,” PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Hans Sicat said.

Jonas Ravelas, BDO Unibank chief market strategist, said that the market is still on an upward trend because of positive news from here and abroad, which continued to boost investors’ confidence toward the market.

Jovis Vistan, AB Capital Securities head of research, also agreed that buoyancy within the local market is also driven by good economic fundamentals from in and out of the country.

“The market continued to rally because a lot of foreign funds were coming in,” Vistan added.

Harry Liu, president of Summit Securities Inc., on the other hand, said that the market went through just a slight improvement as the volatility within it is still on hold.
“Our market is starting to have a mixed feeling,” he said.

“The market is starting to be in a consolidated stage . . . We will see it [become] more aggressive after it breaches 6,000 [points],” Liu added.

Vistan said that the index should test 6,000 first before profit-taking sets in.

“Investors should see a healthy pull back,” he added.

On Friday, the Philippine Stock Exchange index extended its record run, rising 0.63 percent, or 37.40 points to 5,971.45, while the broader all-shares index climbed 0.41 percent, or 15.55 points to 3,778.43.

All the sub-indices ended in the green although slightly lower than that of Thursday’s results except for industrial, which was down 0.09 percent, or 8.16 points to 9,057.48.

Services, on the other hand, went up by 0.78 percent, or 13.87 points to 1,779.70, followed by the holding firms, which was gained 0.75 percent, or 39.36 points to 5,317.45.

Financials climbed by 0.56 percent or 8.67 points to 1,552.58, while mining and oil climbed 0.55 percent, or 110.47 points to 20,037.87.  The property counter also inched up by 0.54 percent, or 12.67 points to 2,350.76.

Advancers edged losers, 98 to 67, while 49 shares were unchanged.