PSEi soars to one-year high on strong peso

MANILA, Philippines — The local stock market sustained its rally yesterday, soaring to its highest level in over a year on the back of higher corporate earnings results and the peso’s appreciation against the dollar.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) extended its winning streak to a sixth straight session, surging by 1.1 percent or 71.89 points to 6,619.87.

This was the PSEi’s highest closing since finishing at 6,625.17 on Jan. 6, 2025.

The broader All Shares index also had a strong showing, increasing by 0.72 percent or 25.91 points to 3,640.38.

Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said the PSEi reached the 6,600 level as buying pressure remained intact across the board.

He said investor confidence stayed elevated, with ongoing earnings releases driving gains in select stocks and attracting renewed participation from investors.

“The strengthening peso against the dollar further bolstered overall market sentiment and supported sustained optimism in equities,” Limlingan said.

Aside from the mostly better local corporate earnings results and the peso appreciation, RCBC chief economist Michael Ricafort also attributed yesterday’s upbeat market performance to the continued market optimism about possible inclusion of Philippine government bonds into the JPMorgan Emerging Market Bond Index, which would entail additional foreign buying of government bonds worth about $3 billion.

Most sectors capped off the day in the positive territory, led by services, which skyrocketed by 4.25 percent.

Property and holding firms indexes, meanwhile, dipped by 0.64 percent and 0.09 percent, respectively.