Lower November inflation boosts PSEi

MANILA, Philippines — The local stock market snapped a two-day decline as investors cheered the country’s November inflation.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) jumped by 1.05 percent or 61.64 points to end the session at 5,949.22.

The broader All Shares index also inched up by 0.55 percent or 19.03 points, settling at 3,477.68.

Luis Limlingan said that the PSEi rose as upbeat sentiment followed the release of inflation data that came in better than consensus.

“Investors appeared to react positively, treating the figure as an important input for the central bank’s upcoming policy decision. Overall, the market likely factored the inflation print into expectations for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ next meeting,” Limlingan said.

Sectoral gauges were a mixed bag, with services soaring the highest by 3.93 percent, while holding firms lost the most with a 0.45-percent drop.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said investors cheered the slower-than-expected inflation in November as this justifies another 25-basis-point rate cut by the BSP Monetary Board on Dec. 11.

Total turnover value thinned to P5.8 billion from the previous day’s P6.54 billion.

ICTSI was the session’s top traded stock, surging by 6.63 percent to P587 per share, followed by Jollibee which climbed by 1.47 percent to P179.60 and BDO which slipped by 0.24 percent to P122.80.