Investors shrugged off a brewing geopolitical conflict in Asia to buy up local stocks Wednesday.
The peso closed down.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was up 67.78 points or 1.07 percent to 6,430.08.
The broader all shares index was up 25.24 points or 074 percent to 3,436.83, a 0.74 percent hike.
Losers edged gainers 89 to 88 with 52 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P6.52 billion.
Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital and Development Corp., said investors downplayed the prospects of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan which has angered China will further strain the already tense US-China relations.
The peso closed at 55.74 to the dollar, down from 55.435.
The currency opened at 55.55, and intraday high and hit a hitting a low of 55.777. Trading turnover reached $922.1 million.
South Korea’s won and Indonesia’s rupiah depreciated slightly against the US dollar on Wednesday, while most other Asian currencies were muted as investors eyed the potential fallout from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
Bond yields in the region tracked US peers higher, the long and short ends of which ticked up overnight after hawkish comments from some US Federal Reserve officials.
“In the immediate near term, the downward pressures on Asia rates are likely to remain heavy, even as Asia inflation continues to rise and surprise to the upside, and hike pricings have come down to fairer levels,” analysts at DBS Group said in a note.
“The growth-inflation trade-off could get even more challenging for Asia central banks if US-China tensions lead to further supply shocks for Asia,” they added.
Most actively traded San Miguel Corp. was steady at P104.50. Security Bank Corp. was down P3 to P81. Universal Robina Corp. was up P3.80 to P124.80. Emperador Inc. was up P0.18 to P19.12. BDO Unibank Inc. was up P4.70 to P117.30. Ayala Land Inc. was down P0.15 to P25.95. Manila Electric Co. was down P10 to P312. Semirara Mining and Power Corp. was up P0.30 to P40.85. SM Investments Corp. was up P26 to P795. Ayala Corp. was up P8.50 to P668.50.
