Share prices ended up Wednesday on bargain hunting. The peso closed up.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index was up 50.93 points, a 0.78 percent hike to 6,607.13.
The broader All Shares index was up 12.91 points or 0.35 percent to 3,539.36.
Losers edged gainers 100 to 92 with 44 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P7 billion.
The peso closed at 54.98 to the dollar, up from 55.33 on Tuesday.
The currency opened at 55.30, an intraday high, and hit a low of 54.97. Trading turnover reached $1.03 billion.
Asian currencies climbed Wednesday after upbeat factory activity data from China signaled a steady recovery in the world’s second-largest economy and lifted sentiment while investors assessed prospects of rising interest rates, Reuters reported.
A slew of upbeat US economic data in recent weeks has heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve would hike rates to a higher level than market forecasts and keep them elevated for longer than was initially expected.
Fed fund futures suggested rates peaking at around 5.4 percent by September, with a likely 50 basis point (bps) hike in March.
Claire Alviar, analyst at Philstocks Financial Inc. went up due to bargain hunting after four consecutive days of market decline.
“Investors bought bargains at the 6,600 support level. Also, the bourse followed the trend in Asian markets as investors digested some economic data in the region,” she said.
Most actively traded Globe Telecom Inc. was up P33 to P1,808. International Container Terminal Services Inc. was down P1 to P198.80. ACEN Corp. was down P0.03 to P6.31. SM Investments Corp. was up P37 to P889. BDO Unibank Inc. was up P0.60 to P124.
Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. was up P3.15. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was up P0.75 to P34.80. PLDT Inc. was up P33 to P1,318. Megaworld Corp. was down P0.02to P2. Bank of the Philippine Islands was down P5.80 to P104.
