MANILA – The Philippine peso continued to hold its ground against the Greenback while the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recovered and went back to 8,000-level as US officials downplay the possible trade war with China.
The local currency finished Thursday at 52.11 or virtually unchanged from Wednesday’s 52.12, which a trader traced to investors’ decision to stay at the sidelines to monitor US-China trade issues.
Hopes for a hike in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) key rates also boosted investors’ risk appetite following the release of the March 2018 Philippine inflation rate at 4.3 percent from the previous month’s 3.8 percent.
A trader, however, said rate hike expectations from the BSP was muted by the wait-and-see stance ahead of the release of US’ March 2018 non-farm payroll report later in the session.
For the day, the peso opened at 52.12, slightly weaker than its 52.00 start in the previous session. It traded between 52.09 and 52.16, bringing the day’s average to 52.12.
Volume of trade reached USD483 million, lower than the previous day’s USD504.4 million. The local unit is seen to trade between 52.10 and 52.30 to a dollar Friday.
PSEi rose by 0.31 percent, or 24.49 points, to 8,022.16 points. All Shares tracked the main index after it went up by 0.13 percent, or 6.42 points, to 4,864.45 points.
It was a balanced mix among the sectors with three posting gains specifically Holding Firms, 0.63 percent; and Financials and Property, which both rose by 0.24 percent. On the other hand, Mining and Oil posted the biggest losses during the day after it fell 1.75 percent followed by the Services, 0.28 percent, and Industrial, 0.13 percent.
Volume reached 4.05 billion shares amounting to Php5.85 billion. Losers led gainers at 103 to 83 while 55 shares were unchanged. (PNA)
