The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) managed to recover from early losses to end its losing streak by posting a small gain as investors finally came in to pick up some bargains.

The main index inched up 7.52 points or 0.12 percent to close at 6,474.53 although only the Holding Firms and Mining and Oil sectors advanced. A total of 827 million shares worth P5.6 billion changed hands as losers still beat gainers at 118 to 62 while 44 remained unchanged.

“Investors finally became bargain hunters after witnessing an intense equity sell off Monday night with the S&P 500 tumbling to a fresh low for the year and closing in bear market territory as recession fears grew ahead of this week’s key Fed's two-day policy meeting,” said Regina Capital Development Corporation Managing Director Luis Limlingan.

He added that, “investors are bracing themselves for the possibility of a larger-than-expected interest rate hike this week after CNBC’s Steve Liesman confirmed on Monday that the Federal Reserve will ‘likely’ consider a 75bp increase, which is greater than the 50bp hike many traders had come to expect.”

Philstocks Financial Senior Supervisor for Research Japhet Tantiangco said that “last minute bargain hunting sent the local market higher. For the most part of the day however, the bourse was in the negative territory amid the pessimistic spillovers from Wall Street caused by worries that the Federal Reserve will take aggressive measures in their policy meeting this week in light of the US’ latest inflation print.”

He noted that, “for 10 straight days, net value turnover has not been exceeding P5.7 billion, reflecting tepid participation amid the lingering uncertainties in the market.“