By Joann Villanueva/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed to the 8,200-level on Thursday, while the peso ended the day stronger, partly due to hopes of unchanged domestic interest rates.
The main equities index rose by 1.36 percent, or 110.69 points, to 8,272.18 points, which BPI Research said followed the drumbeat of other bourses in the region.
All Shares went up by 0.76 percent, or 37.60 points, to 4,993.84 points.
It was, however, a mix among the sectoral gauges, with Holding Firms, Financials, Property, and Services rising by 1.92 percent, 1.67 percent, 0.95 percent, and 0.56 percent.
On the other hand, Industrial and Mining and Oil fell by 0.82 percent and 0.61 percent, respectively.
Volume reached 894.31 million shares amounting to PHP8.27 billion. Losers edged gainers at 124 to 79 while 48 shares were unchanged.
Similarly, the local currency finished the day at 51.11 against the US dollar, a tad better than its 51.175 close a day ago.
BPI Research attributed this to the market’s reaction to a news report quoting an unnamed member of the policy-making Monetary Board (MB) saying that there is no rush to slash the central bank’s key rates.
The MB will hold its rate setting meet on August 8, 2019 and projections vary, with some saying a cut is possible after inflation returned to a downward path last June, when it slowed to 2.7 percent after an uptick to 3.2 percent in the previous month. Others expect the MB to keep rates steady.
With news like these as a backdrop, the peso opened the day firmer at 51.14 from day-ago’s 51.225. It traded between 51.15 and 51.07, resulting to an average of 51.107. Volume of trade amounted to USD831.85 million, a drop from day-ago’s USD1.17 billion.
The currency pair is seen to trade between 51.00 and 51.30 on Friday.
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