Share prices ended higher yesterday while the peso closed lower.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index was up 23.71 points, a 0.37 percent hike to 6,505.62.
The broader All Shares index was up 8.77 points or 0.25 percent to 3,489.54.
Losers edged gainers 98 to 82 with 61 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached $4.39 billion.
The peso closed at 55.85 to the dollar, down from 55.21 on Friday. The currency opened at 55.35 to the dollar, an intraday high and hit a low of 55.87. Trading turnover reached $1.37 billion.
Asian currencies broadly declined against a firmer dollar on Monday, on increased expectations the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its May meeting.
Money markets are now pricing in an 81.4 percent chance the Fed will hike rates by 25 basis points next month, compared to a 69 percent chance last week.
In Asia, a slew of Chinese economic data due on Tuesday will provide some insight on how the end of China’s strict zero-COVID curbs have helped the recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.
“Overall, we now expect BNM (Bank Negara Malaysia) and BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) to be the only central banks in emerging Asia left with more rate hikes in them — with the BoT (Bank of Thailand) possibly also staying in this list.”
Claire Alviar, analyst at Philstocks Financial Inc. noted the uptick in the local market is a result of the “improved sentiment at home due to higher BOI (Board of Investments) investments in the first quarter and an improvement in consumer confidence for the next 12 months.”
“Moreover, the upwardly revised GDP growth projection of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) to 6 percent due to strong consumer demand and China’s reopening, gave a boost to the market,” she added.
Alviar, however, noted turnover was thin.
Most actively traded SM Investments Corp. was down P4 to P900. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was up P0.20 to P34. Ayala Land Inc. was up P0.20 to P26.70. BDO Unibank Inc. was down P3.70 to P128.30. Robinsons Land Corp. was down P0.38 to P13.72. International Container Terminal Services Inc. was down P2.40 to P210.20. Ayala Corp. was up P25 to P655. Lodestar Investment Holdings Corp. was up P0.15 to P0.79. PLDT Inc. was up P24 to P1,284. Jollibee Foods Corp. was up P5 to P219.60.
