MANILA – Bargain hunting again lifted the main stocks index on Thursday while the peso finished the day sideways against the US dollar.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 1.04 percent, or 73.18 points, to 7,082.61 points.
All Shares followed with a jump of 0.93 percent, or 34.60 points, to 3,759.35 points.
Most of the sectoral gauges also rose during the day with Mining and Oil gaining by 4.92 percent; Holding Firms, 2.25 percent; Services, 1.65 percent; and Industrial, 0.93 percent.
On the other hand, Property slipped by 0.53 percent and Financials by 0.008 percent.
Volume reached 15.09 billion shares amounting to PHP7.83 billion.
Advancers led decliners at 108 to 64, while 58 shares were unchanged.
Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation (RCDC) head of sales, said “investors took bets” on the would-be decision of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policy-making Monetary Board (MB) after its rate setting meeting during the day.
As expected, the MB kept the central bank’s key rates steady. This, even after hiking its average inflation forecasts both for 2022 and 2023 due largely to the upticks in the prices of oil in the international market.
Limlingan said BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno has repeatedly discounted the need to mirror the Federal Reserve’s rate hike decision “underscoring the notion that the benchmark rate will be left untouched even as the war in Ukraine drags on.”
“Investors also welcomed E.O. No. 166, a 10-point policy agenda recommended by the Economic Development Cluster aimed at accelerating the economy’s recovery from the pandemic,” he added.
Meanwhile, the local currency finished the day at 52.33, sideways from its 52.39 close a day ago.
It opened the day at 52.41, almost unchanged from its 52.42 start in the previous session.
It traded between 52.43 and 52.15, bringing the day’s average to 52.364.
Volume reached USD960.95 million, lower than the previous session’s USD1.02 billion. (PNA)