Market climbs on record low inflation

Share prices continued to rally, bringing the benchmark index back above the 7,600-point mark. Philstar.com/File

MANILA, Philippines - Share prices continued to rally, bringing the benchmark index back above the 7,600-point mark.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 64.26 points, or 0.84 percent, to close at 7,662.55.

The broader All-Shares index likewise closed in positive territory at 4,382.94, up 34.13 points or 0.78 percent.

Grace Cerdenia, research head of F. Yap Securities, said continued buying among local stocks prevailed, especially those that reported encouraging first half earnings results.

Investors were also encouraged by record low inflation rate of 0.8 percent for July, Cerdenia said.

The financials index rose 7.10 points, or 0.42 percent, to end at 1,678.88, while the industrial index gained 89.79 points to settle at 11,655.08.

The holding firms index ended at 6,952.50, up 67.28 points, while the property index rose 56.62 points to close at 3,166.60.

Value turnover stood at P9.05 billion. Advancers beat decliners, 94 to 69 while 47 stocks were unchanged.

Meanwhile, Wall Street ended lower on Tuesday for a third straight session as investors worried about a rise in interest rates while Apple’s shares hit their lowest in over six months.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.27 percent to end at 17,550.69 and the S&P 500 lost 0.22 percent to 2,093.32. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.19 percent finish at 5,105.55. – Iris Gonzales, Reuters

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