By Leslie Gatpolintan/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The stock market extended its rally on Monday while the peso ended stronger after recently losing ground to the US dollar, as investors continue to be upbeat about the Monetary Board’s decision to reduce banks’ reserve requirements last week.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 76.32 points, or 1.01 percent, to 7,660.14.
“Local investors are bullish that the lowering of the RRR (reserve requirement ratio) by the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas), along with a potential boost in second quarter driven by election spending, would support our market moving forward,” AAA Equities president William Matthew Cabangon said.
The 200-basis-point cut will be implemented on a staggered basis of 100 basis points effective May 31, and 50 basis points each by June 28 and July 26. “This would explain our market’s outperformance among Asian peers despite the lingering trade war concerns,” Cabangon said.
Regina Capital managing director, Luis Limlingan, said shares traded positively but with minimal value turnover after a series of moves from the US and China “kept investors at bay.” He said the White House officially announced that it is delaying its decision on auto tariffs for up to six months as expected.
At home, volume reached 1.014 billion shares amounting to PHP4.88 billion. Gainers edged losers at 100 to 84, while 43 shares were unchanged. All counters ended in the positive territory, except Mining and Oil, which slightly declined.
On the other hand, the peso closed stronger at 52.59 on Monday from Friday’s 52.63.
The local currency opened at 52.6 from the previous session’s 52.55. It traded between 52.71 and 52.57, resulting in an average of 52.648.
Volume reached USD1.083 billion from the previous trading session’s USD1.188 billion.
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