Share prices ended higher Thursday, tracking overseas leads. The peso closed up.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was up 62.98 points, a 0.95 percent hike to 6,706.43.
The broader all shares index was up 23.95 points or 0.68 percent to 3,565.28.
Gainers edged losers 100 to 86 with 34 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P3.99 billion.
The peso closed at 56.06 to the dollar, up from 56.70 on Tuesday.
The currency opened at 55.95, and hit a high of 55.90 and a low of 56.09. Trading turnover reached $1.06 billion.
Thailand’s baht and South Korea’s won were the top gainers among Asian emerging currencies on Thursday as the dollar retreated ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole conference.
The spotlight is squarely on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the annual monetary policy conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, due to begin on Friday.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six counterparts, edged back from an almost two-decade peak, declining 0.5 percent on Thursday, but was still up more than 2 percent so far this month on broader hawkish interest rate environment.
The weakness in the dollar boosted the appetite for emerging Asian currencies on Thursday, with the Thai baht appreciating 0.5 percent and leading gains.
Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital and Development Corp., said investors positioned ahead of the US Fed’s Jackson Hole economic symposium, leading for the market to rise in tandem with foreign markets.
With Powell set to speak on the meeting, investors will be tracking for leads about how the Fed will combat high inflation and if policymakers may cut rates when the current hiking cycle is over, Limlingan said.
Most actively traded International Container Terminal Services Inc. was up P3 to P188.
Ayala Land Inc. was down P0.30 to P28.50. PLDT Inc. was down P31 to P1,699. Security Bank Corp. was up P1 to P37. SM Investments Corp. was up P29 to P880. BDO Unibank Inc. was up P1.80 to P128.80. Jollibee Foods Corp. was up P3 to P234. Solar Philippine Nueva Ecija Corp. was steady at P1.65. Converge ICT Solutions Inc. was down P0.06 to P18.64.