Share prices ended up Wednesday as investors snapped up blue chips after the release on Tuesday of the second quarter GDP results.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was up 43.63 points to 6,666.86, a 0.66 percent hike.
The broader all shares index was up 15.63 points to 4,111.61, a 0.38 percent hike. Losers edged gainers 81 to 84 with 56 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached $6.83 billion.
The peso closed at 50.38 to the dollar, up from 50.395 on Tuesday.
The currency opened at 50.40 and hit a high of 50.37 and a low of 50.49. Trading turnover reached $896.6 million.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, hovered near its four-month high, while the benchmark US bond yield touched 1.3610 percent, its highest since mid-July.
“Until US data starts disappointing again, or the Fed starts pushing back against the market’s hawkish tilt, the dollar is likely to stay firm,” analysts at DBS Group Research said in a note.
“Philippine share were traded up as investors bought up in anticipation of names that may be affected by the release of the quarterly MSCI rebalancing results later,” said Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital and Development Corp.
“Many are also assessing whether (or not) the country (will) sustain this level of expansion in the coming quarters once base effects fade,” he said.
SB Equities Inc. said there was a strong demand for blue chips such as Ayala Land Inc., BDO Unibank Inc., SM Prime Holdings Inc., and SM Investments Corp. ahead of the latest MSCI quarterly index review.
Investors are also looking at the result of the Monetary Board policy meeting Thursday.
Most actively traded AC Energy Corp. was up P0.15 to P9.22. Ayala Land was up P1 to P34.20. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was up P1.10 to P35. Premier Horizon Alliance Corp. was steady at P1.31. Globe Telecom Inc. was up P10 to P2,000. PLDT Inc. was down P4 to P1,251. Converge Information and Communication Technology Solutions Inc. was up P0.50 to P27.35. DMCI Holdings Inc. was up P0.18 to P5.88. Manila Electric Co. was up P4.80 to P281.20. SM Investments was up P19 to P1,008. BDO Unibank was up P2.40 to P111.50.