Share prices ended higher Wednesday as investors hunted for bargains.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was up 81.65 points to 6,802.73, a 1.21 percent hike.
The broader all shares index was up 18.16 points to 3,614.99, a 0.5 percent hike.
Losers edged gainers 124 to 64 with 54 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P6.92 billion.
The peso closed at 52.50 to the dollar, down from 52.365 on Monday.
The currency opened at 52.43 and hit a high of 52.39 and a low of 52.505. Trading turnover reached $134 billion.
Most Asian currencies rose on Wednesday, with the South Korean won leading gains, as caution ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement later in the day put the dollar on the back foot.
The dollar was slightly lower to flat against a basket of major currencies around midday in Asia with Fed policymakers expected to hike interest rates by 50 basis points (bps) later in the day in a bid to tame surging inflation.
Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital and Development Corp., said investors reverted to bargain- hunting after the holiday following two successive days of the US trading in the green.
“US equities closed up for two straight days ahead of the anticipated Fed decision on Wednesday. The street is largely expecting the central bank to raise rates by 50 bps this week,” he said.
“Meanwhile, there were some positive signs for the economy on the data front. Factory orders for March rose 2.2 percent, better than expected. US job openings came in at 11.5 million, an all-time high,” he added.
Most actively traded MREIT Inc. was up P0.02 to P17.52. Ayala Land Inc. was down P0.10 to P32. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was up P1.75 to P36.75. BDO Unibank Inc. was down P0.20 to P127.80. SM Investments Corp. was steady at P849. International Container Terminal Services Inc. was down P0.60 to P215. Ayala Corp. was down P8 to P730. Monde Nissin Corp. was up P0.50 to P13.90. Converge ICT Solutions Inc. was up P0.90 to P28.20. Globe Telecom Inc. was down P52 to P2,222.
