MANILA — Both the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) and the local currency managed to end Wednesday’s trading higher despite the release of uninspiring outlooks on the domestic as well as global economies.
PSEi gained further by 0.20 percent, or 15.85 points, to 7,895.06 points, which Regina Capital Managing Director Luis Limlingan dubbed as a quiet session after the Asian Development Bank (ADB), among others, cut its 2019 growth projection for the Philippines from 6.7 percent to 6.4 percent due to the impact of slower global growth and expected effect of the dry spell.
Also, the World Trade Organization (WTO) slashed its 2019 global growth forecast from 3.7 percent to three percent following the 0.3 percent contraction in the last quarter of 2018.
These reports affected investors’ sentiment that prevented All Shares from tracking the main gauge.
All Shares finished ended the day on the red after it declined by 0.09 percent, or 4.52 points, to 4,840.34 points.
It was a mix among the sectors with the Financials, Services, and Holding Firms rising by 0.48 percent, 0.34 percent and 0.30 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, Industrial fell 0.46 percent and was followed by the Property, 0.23 percent; and Mining and Oil, 0.17 percent.
Volume reached 1.3 billion shares amounting to PHP6.4 billion.
Advancers led losers at 100 to 99 while 45 shares were unchanged.
Also, the peso ended the day at 52.08, better than its 52.44 close a day ago.
It started the day at 52.38, an improvement from its 52.5 opening in the previous day.
It strengthened to as much as 52.07 but also moved to 52.4, resulting to an average of 52.262.
Volume reached USD948.95 million, higher than Tuesday’s USD924.61 million.
The currency pair is seen to trade between 52.10 and 52.30 Thursday.
