PSEi advances, peso slips back to 61:$1

MANILA, Philippines — The local stock market found its way back to the 6,300 level yesterday on hopes that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will temper policy tightening given the country’s weak gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) advanced by 0.6 percent or 37.68 points to end at 6,326.89.

The broader All Shares index also finished in the positive territory at 3,437.92, up by 0.5 percent or 17.15 points.

Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said the PSEi ended higher as sentiment improved following the BSP’s remarks that weaker economic growth could reduce the need for further rate hikes.

Limlingan said the softer second quarter GDP growth eased concerns over additional monetary tightening.

“Investors responded positively, supporting selected gains across the market,” he said.

Local counters, however, remained mixed, with mining and oil recording the highest jump at 2.18 percent, while holding firms lost the most at 0.12 percent.

Total turnover value improved to P5.13 billion from the previous day’s P4.1 billion.

Advancers edged out decliners, 98 to 91, while 64 issues were unchanged.

Meanwhile, the peso weakened sharply back to the 61-per-dollar level yesterday as a rebound in global oil prices and renewed strength in the greenback erased some of the local currency’s recent gains.

Data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed the peso closed at 61.26 per dollar, depreciating by 55.5 centavos from Monday’s 60.705 finish.

The local currency opened at 60.90, which was also its strongest level for the day. It weakened to as much as 61.275 before paring some of its losses toward the close.

Trading activity picked up, with total volume rising by 8.7 percent to $1.6 billion from $1.47 billion in the previous session.