Share prices rose Monday on bargain-hunting.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index was up 129.56 points to 7,140.67, a 1.85 percent hike.
The broader all shares index was up 54.27 points to 3,799.88, a 1.45 percent hike.
Gainers edged losers 116 to 64 with 53 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P5.24 billion.
The peso closed at 51.31 to the dollar, up from 51.35 on Friday.
The currency opened at 51.38 and hit a high of 51.27 and a low of 51.45. Trading turnover reached $919.22 million.
The rupiah led modest gains among emerging Asian peers on Monday as Indonesia, the world’s top thermal coal exporter, considered lifting its export ban on the commodity, Reuters reported.
Currency markets fluctuated in the Asian trading session as liquidity was thinned by a holiday in Japan. Malaysia’s ringgit and the Indian rupee firmed 0.2 percent, while the Thai baht and Taiwan’s dollar traded flat.
The US dollar attempted to recover from Friday’s losses after a softer-than-expected jobs report worried investors, though a rate hike by the Federal Reserve in March seemed to have been fully priced in by markets.
Focus now shifts to US inflation data due on Wednesday and chair Jerome Powell and governor Lael Brainard’s speeches this week regarding their nominations at the Fed.
Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp., said investors became bargain hunters “as many looked into shares that were sold as a result of the negative sentiment brought about by the rising COVID cases.”
“The sentiment was much rosier versus abroad where cases were much higher and inflation continues to accelerate,” he said.
SB Equities Inc. said traders took a view that the government “may not increase current mobility curbs in the very near term, despite the country tallying a fresh record of new COVID infections, for as long as the healthcare utilization rate remained below 70 percent.”
Most actively traded Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. was up P1.70 to P55. Globe Telecom Inc. was down P30 to P3,240. Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp. was up P0.09 to P1.29.
AC Energy Corp. was up P0.31 to P9.64. SM Investments Corp. was up P3 to P940. Ayala Land Inc. was up P0.65 to P34.50. Jollibee Foods Corp. was up P7.80 to P22.80. Security Bank Corp. was up P6.90 to P111. PLDT Inc. was down P28 to P1,822. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was up P1.30 to P34.40. – Ruelle Castro
