Risk-on sentiments continued to lift the local bourse’s main index yesterday while the peso finished sideways against the US dollar after touching the 56-level mid-day.
All counters in the local stock market finished higher, led by the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi), which rose 1.67 percent, or 112.80 points, to 6,850.64 points.
All Shares jumped by 1.23 percent, or 44.21 points, to 3,625.08 points.
Financials posted the highest increase among the sectoral indices after it rose by 2.78 percent and was trailed by Holding Firms, 1.96 percent; Property, 1.44 percent; Services, 0.96 percent; Industrial, 0.93 percent; and Mining and Oil, 0.84 percent.
Volume was thin at 967.13 million shares amounting to PHP8.89 billion.
Advancers led decliners 111 to 91, while 35 shares were unchanged.
“Philippine stocks continued their upward momentum as funds look for alternatives after the weaker view of China,” said Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation (RCDC) head of sales.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) unexpectedly cut on August 15 its main rate from 2.1 percent to 2 percent and the one-year lending facility rate to 2.75 percent from 2.85 percent to “maintain reasonable and sufficient liquidity in the banking system.
Limlingan also traced the bargain hunting in the local bourse during the day to the 4.4 percent year-on-year expansion of remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) last June to USD3.1 billion.
He said investors are also awaiting the release this week of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s meeting last July, which “could give further clues as to how the central bank will hike rates to tame inflation going forward.”
Limlingan said the price of oil in the international market continues to drop “on demand fears after the downbeat Chinese economic data.”
He added Brent crude oil futures slipped by 3.1 percent to USD95.1 per barrel and the West Texas Intermediate by 2.9 percent to USD89.41 per barrel.
Meanwhile, the local currency ended the day little changed against the US dollar at 55.83 from 55.825 on Monday.
It opened the day at 55.95, weaker than its 55.72 start in the previous session.
It traded between 55.82 and 56.1, resulting in an average of 55.966.
Volume reached USD1.02 billion, higher than the previous day’s USD896.6 million.*PNA
