Stocks rebound on US-Iran peace deal

MANILA, Philippines — The local stock market rebounded as investor sentiment got a much-needed boost following the signing of a peace deal between the United States and Iran.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) capped off yesterday’s session at 6,153.66, up by 0.64 percent or 38.85 points.

The broader All Shares index also advanced by 0.35 percent or 11.91 percent to end at 3,393.41.

Philstocks Financial research manager Japhet Tantiangco said the local market bounced back as the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding with a goal of moving toward a permanent peace deal, part of which is the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz for at least 60 days.

“This is expected to ease pressures on global supply oil supply which in turn would help in improving our inflation outlook,” Tantiangco said.

Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said gains were sustained for most of the session, although selective profit taking emerged in the afternoon, particularly among interest rate-sensitive stocks.

“This came after the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) maintained its tightening stance and continued its rate hikes, prompting investors to reassess sectors exposed to higher borrowing costs,” he said.

At its policy meeting yesterday, the BSP’s Monetary Board hiked the target reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 4.75 percent.

Sectoral gauges were a mixed bag, with services posting the highest jump at two percent, while mining and oil lost the most with 2.87 percent.

Total turnover value further thinned to P7.15 billion from the previous day’s P8.26 billion.

Decliners crushed advancers, 100 to 82, while 56 issues did not change hands.

ICTSI was the top traded stock, climbing by 2.78 percent to P925 per share, followed by BDO Unibank which plunged by 3.01 percent to P129 and Ayala Land which soared by 7.77 percent to P14.70.