Share prices closed up Tuesday as the country reported a tamer inflation than expected. The peso closed up.
Just after the opening bell rang, the government reported that inflation in November slowed to 4.1 percent from 4.9 percent the previous month and was the lowest since March 2022.
This helped the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) to close up 24.58 points to 6,308.95, a 0.39 percent hike.
The broader All Share index was up 4.58 points or 0.14 percent to 3,352.02.
Losers edged gainers 94 to 82 with 41 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P4 billion.
The peso closed at 55.32 to the dollar, up from 55.34 on Monday. The currency opened at 55.40, hitting a high of 55.295 and a low of 55.445. Trading turnover reached $1.35 billion.
The South Korean won led losses among weak Asian currencies on Tuesday after traders recalibrated interest rate cut bets from the US Federal Reserve as they awaited a key jobs report.
The South Korean won slipped as much as 0.8 percent to end at 1311.20 per dollar, hitting a near three-week low, while the Indonesian rupiah edged about 0.3 percent lower.
The US non-farm payrolls data — a key labour market report — and the non-manufacturing ISM data for November are expected during the week, which market participants will look to for further clarity on interest rates.
Investors are currently expecting the Fed to cut interest rates by the first half of next year.
At 0650 GMT, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against six major currencies, was steady at 103.61.
“As such, there is ample space for the market to pare back on rate cut expectations and this could keep the USD supported,” analysts from Maybank wrote.
“We still believe that the USD is a sell on rally, however the road to a weaker USD could be bumpy,” they added.
Other Asian currencies like the Malaysian ringgit and Taiwan dollar traded 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent lower, while the Indian rupee and the Singapore dollar were flat.
The Philippine peso was the only outlier in the region, rising about 0.3 percent.
Separately, inflation data in South Korea and the Philippines came in cooler than expected even as their central banks maintained hawkish biases, concerned about the risk of persistently higher price pressures in the near future.
Analysts from Barclays expect both central banks to start cutting rates by the fourth quarter of 2024, while expecting the Fed to start slashing rates only by December next year.
The Bank of Korea had stood pat on its interest rates at its meeting last week, while the Philippines’ central bank is set to host its policy meeting next week.
Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp., noted that the market bucked the trend of US markets overnight as November inflation came in better than expected.
Mikhail Philippe Plopenio, analyst at Philstocks Financial Inc., meanwhile, said the market only managed to eke out a gain at the last minute, with early trades having the PSEi in the red.
“Investors cheered the deceleration of inflation at home,” he said.
Most actively traded Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. was up P0.02 to P2.34. International Container Terminal Services Inc. was up P8.80 to P228.80. Ayala Land Inc. was up P0.05 to P31.05. Bank of the Philippine Islands was up P0.30 to P106. Universal Robina Corp. was down P0.20 to P113.80. SM Investments Corp. was down P1.50 to P823.50. Ayala Corp. was up P2 to P661. BDO Unibank Inc. was up P0.20 to P131.70. Jollibee Foods Corp. was up P1 to P245. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was up P0.30 to P33.35.
