MANILA — The Philippine peso improved against the greenback as the local stock market swung back to positive territory on Thursday after news broke of the country’s economy shooting up to a confidence-inspiring 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2018.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed 0.21 percent, or 15.73 points, to 7,571 points.
The broader All Shares tracked the main index with a 0.20 percent increase, or 9.42 points, to close at 4,629.91 points.
Financials registered the biggest gain with 1.36 percent, followed by Services, 0.58 percent, and Property, 0.39 percent.
Meanwhile, the Holding Firms counter registered the highest loss with 0.49 percent, Mining and Oil, 0.20 percent, and Industrial, 0.14 percent.
Advancers edged out decliners at 104 to 85, while 55 stocks remained unchanged as transactions reached 880 million shares amounting to PHP5.49 billion.
The local currency, on the other hand, finished the day at 51.8 from 52.015 a day ago.
The local unit opened unchanged at 52 from the previous opening trade.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) reported that the Philippine economy expanded 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2018, slightly lower than the full-year growth target but remained among the fastest in Asia.
The January-to-March quarter gross domestic product (GDP) was faster than the growth recorded in the first and fourth quarter of 2017, which stood at 6.5 percent.
“This is the tenth consecutive quarter that the economy was able to achieve an output expansion of 6.5 percent or better,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director General Ernesto Pernia.
Among the major economic sectors, industry recorded the fastest growth at 7.9 percent in the first quarter, followed by services at 7 percent.
Agriculture grew at a slower pace of 1.5 percent. (Filane Mikee Cervantes/PNA)
