Share prices ended flat Wednesday on better than expected inflation report while the peso closed at 58.65 to the dollar unchanged from Tuesday.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was up 0.87 points, a 0.01 percent hike to 5,988.59.
The broader All Shares index was up 9.5 points or 0.3 percent to 3,219.98.
Gainers edged losers 15 to 82 with 46 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P4.82 billion.
The peso opened at 58.60, hitting a high of 58.39 and a low of 58.78. Trading turnover reached $861.15 million.
Most Asian currencies strengthened against a subdued dollar on Wednesday as weak US data raised hopes that the Federal Reserve could move less aggressively in its fight against inflation, Reuters reported.
The US dollar has taken a breather over the past few sessions, shedding about 4 percent from a record high of 114.78 touched last week, as investors speculated a pause or slowdown in the Fed’s monetary policy tightening.
The dollar traded near a two-week low of 110.50, as of 0720 GMT. That helped Southeast Asian currencies such as the South Korean won, which appreciated as much as 1.2 percent to mark its best session since late July.
Claire Alviar, analyst at Philstocks Financial Inc., said the marginal uptick in the market was influenced by the better- than -expected September inflation, which is at at the lower end of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ forecast range of 6.6 to 7.4 percent.
“Market gains, however, were limited as this figure remains faster than August’s 6.3 percent. Moreover, positive catalysts that could move the market were still lacking at the moment,” she said.
“The rally of the US markets overnight, somehow, helped boost the sentiment at home,” Alviar added.
Most actively traded International Container Terminal Services Inc. was up P6.1 to P171.10. San Miguel Corp. was up P2.35 to P99. Jollibee Foods Corp. was down P2 to P238. Ayala Land Inc. was down P.25 to P23.8. Converge ICT Solutions Inc. was down P1.4 to P12. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was down P0.25 to P31.75. SM Investments Corp. was down P9 to P785. BDO Unibank Inc. was up P2.9 to P115.90. Globe Telecom Inc. was up P68 to P2,218. Eagle Cement Corp. was up P3.16 to P18.56.
