Share prices closed higher yesterday on bargain-hunting.
The peso was also up.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was up 29.86 points, a 0.45 percent hike to 6,661.11.
The broader All Shares index was up 13.67 points or 0.39 percent to 3,540.38.
Gainers and losers were equal at 90 stocks while unchanged stocks were at 51.
Trading turnover reached P4.34 billion.
The peso closed at 54.55 to the dollar, up from 54.755.
The currency opened at 54.60 and hit a high of 54.49 and a low of 54.63. Trading turnover reached P1.1 billion.
Asian currencies gained after investor sentiment received a boost from a string of promised measures in the region’s largest economy China to stimulate growth, Reuters reported.
Claire Alviar, analyst at Philstocks Financial Inc., said investors digested President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address Monday afternoon leading to the market’s uptick.
“Moreover, optimism from overseas as China vowed more support for troubled property companies boosted the sentiment at home,” she said.
Alviar, however, noted many investors remained on the sidelines as they await the decision of the Federal Reserve on interest rates.
Most actively traded Bank of the Philippine Islands was up P3.30 to P118.30. BDO Unibank Inc. was down P2.50 to P147.50. Jollibee Foods Corp. was up P1.80 to P259.80. PLDT Inc. was up P19 to P1,319. Metro Pacific Investments Corp. was down P0.01 to P4.90. Ayala Land Inc. was down P0.05 to P27.45. SM Investments Corp. was up P1 to P924. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was up P0.20 to P33.50. Universal Robina Corp. was down P2.60 to P128.50. Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. was up P1.85 to P59.45. – Ruelle Castro
