Shares recover on bargain hunting after sell-off

PHILIPPINE STOCKS rebounded on Thursday as investors took advantage of lower valuations following the market’s slide amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) jumped by 1.15% or 72.69 points to close at 6,380.53, while the broader all shares index went up by 1.15% or 40.37 points to end at 3,525.99.

“The local market bounced back as investors hunted for bargains with hopes that the government would be able to implement measures that would mitigate the impact of the conflict in the Middle East, primarily the rise in oil prices, on the Philippine economy. The positive cues from Wall Street also helped in the climb,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Manager Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.

“The PSEi rebounded after yesterday’s sharp sell-off as investor sentiment improved on hopes of possible talks between Iran and the US, reducing some of the geopolitical concerns,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

Israel launched a large wave of strikes on Tehran on Thursday, targeting what it said was infrastructure belonging to the Iranian authorities, after Iranian missiles sent millions of Israelis rushing into bomb shelters, Reuters reported.

Asian shares rallied on Thursday after days of sharp losses, in line with a rebound in US stocks on hopes the war might end soon. Some traders said the improved sentiment followed a New York Times report that Iranian intelligence had contacted the US Central Intelligence Agency early in the war about a path towards ending it.

But a source from the Iranian intelligence ministry rejected the article as “absolute lies and psychological warfare in the midst of war,” Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim reported.

“Sentiment was further supported after inflation data came in largely in line with expectations, helping calm worries over price pressures,” Mr. Limlingan added.

Headline inflation accelerated to 2.4% in February from 2% in January, the government reported on Thursday. This was the fastest clip in over a year or since the 2.9% in January 2025.

Still, this was within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ 2.3%-3.1% forecast for the month and its 2%-4% annual target and matched the 2.4% median estimate in a BusinessWorld poll of 17 analysts.

All sectoral indices closed higher on Thursday. Mining and oil jumped by 1.91% or 350.08 points to 18,603.04; services increased by 1.87% or 52.45 points to 2,852.50; industrials went up by 1.32% or 117.59 points to 9,009.68; financials rose by 0.9% or 18.63 points to 2,068.81; property advanced by 0.71% or 15.07 points to 2,123.23; and holding firms climbed by 0.43% or 21.44 points to 4,951.34.

Advancers beat decliners, 125 to 72, while 59 names closed unchanged.

Value turnover fell to P6.25 billion on Thursday with 1.91 billion shares traded from the P8.67 billion with 4.5 billion issues that changed hands on Wednesday.

Net foreign selling went down to P198.09 million from P1.31 billion. — A.G.C. Magno with Reuters