Share prices rose Thursday tracking overseas leads.
The peso closed down.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index was up 5.79 points to 6,903.15, a 0.08 percent hike.
The broader All Shares index was up 1.73 points or 0.05 percent to 3,601.83.
Gainers edged losers 98 to 88 with 49 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P4.92 billion.
The peso closed at 55.705 to the dollar, down from 55.94 on Wednesday.
The currency opened at 55.95 and hit a high of 55.70 and a low of 55.98.
Trading turnover reached $1.24 billion.
Currencies in the region remained tepid after minutes of Fed’s January 30-31 meeting showed that policymakers were concerned about the risks of cutting interest rates too soon, with broad uncertainty about how long borrowing costs should remain at their current level.
Investors focus remains on the timing of the policy easing in Southeast Asia.
China’s recent policy decision to slash its five-year loan prime rate by 25bps can be one example for other central banks to reduce policy rates as domestic economic growth tends slow, analysts at Maybank said.
Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital and Development Corp., said the local stock market mimicked its US counterpart’s overnight performance.
Most actively traded Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. was up P1.35 to P60.05. Ayala Land Inc. was up P0.80 to P36.35. BDO Unibank Inc. was down P2 to P155. International container Terminal Service Inc. was down P3.80 to P276.20. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was up P0.30 to P33.50. Ayala Corp. was up P6.50 to P721. Jollibee Foods Corp. was down P2.80 to P258.20. GT Capital Holdings Inc. was up P28 to P718. Bank of the Philippine Islands was down P1 to P119. Universal Robina Corp. was down P1 to P113.
