PHILIPPINE stocks and the peso opened the week on a bright note, with the benchmark index breaking past 6,800 points and with the peso returning to the P56:$1 level amid sustained positive sentiment following last week’s rate cut by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) at intraday touched the 6,900-territory before quick profit-taking shaved off some points prior to market close.
The benchmark PSEi closed higher at 42.5 points, or 0.62 percent, at 6,889.87. Meanwhile, the broader All Shares index rose 15.03 points, or 0.41 percent, to 3,706.45.
Japhet Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financial Inc., said “investors continued to draw optimism from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ recent policy rate cut as well as the prospect of further monetary policy easing moving forward.”
“The positive spillovers from Wall Street’s performance last Friday, driven by growing confidence [in] the US economy, also helped in today’s session,” he added.
“Philippine shares traded above the 6,900-territory intraday before settling a few points below, as investors continued to buy into the market following news last week of the first BSP rate cut in several years,” said Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis Limlingan.
He added that the recent rating upgrade on the Philippines by a Japanese credit rating agency to A-minus with a stable outlook also further boosted investor sentiment.
Japan’s Rating and Investment Information Inc. recently upgraded its rating on the Philippines from a “BBB+” with positive outlook last year to an “A-” with a stable outlook.
“For the shortened trading period, the key economic data releases this week in the US are the jobless claims and existing home sales reports on Thursday,” Limlingan said, noting that the minutes from the July Federal Open Market Committee meeting “will be released on Wednesday.”
Except for industrials and holding firms, the rest of the sectoral indices ended higher, led by properties (up 1.15 percent), while industrials were the biggest losers (down 0.5 percent).
Decliners edged out gainers 104 against 94, while 54 stocks were unchanged.
Stronger peso
Meanwhile, the Philippine peso likewise started the week stronger against the greenback.
The local currency strengthened by 60.5 centavos to P56.64 against the US dollar from its previous level of P57.245, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.
It opened trading at P57.05 to the dollar and ranged from P56.63 to P57.05.
Volume reached P1.610 billion, up from P1.444 billion recorded in the previous session.
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