Share prices ended higher Monday on bargain hunting.
The peso closed up as well.
Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital and Development Corp., said the market closed mixed as volume activity was spurred by the latest Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rebalancing.
The PSE last week said it is revamping its index to replace Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Aboitiz Power Corp. with Bloombery Resorts Corp. and Century Pacific Food Inc. after the two firms missed the minimum public float required of index stocks at 20 percent.
The PSE said the change in PSEi composition will take effect Tuesday, September 26.
Yesterday, the index ended higher by 30.05 points, a 0.48 percent hike to 6,172.84.
The broader All Shares index was up 8.2 points or 0.25 percent to 3,325.15.
Losers edged gainers 89 to 85 with 47 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P8.48 billion.
The peso closed at 56.785 to the dollar, up from 56.795 on Friday.
The currency opened at 56.785 and hit a high of 56.735 and a low of 56.81. Trading turnover reached $904.9 million.
Most Asian currencies struggled for direction on Monday, with the Indian rupee leading losses, after hawkish comments from the US Federal Reserve last week set the stage for further rate hikes and bolstered the greenback.
The US dollar index, which scaled a six-month high in the previous session, remained largely flat on Monday as the latest US business activity data highlighted resilience in the world’s largest economy.
Most actively traded Aboitiz Power Corp. was up P1.35 to P32.10. Bloomberry Resorts Corp. was up P0.18 to P10.78. BDO Unibank Inc. was up P2 to P133. Integrated Microelectronics Inc. was up P0.08 to P3.85. Century Pacific Food Inc. was down P0.05 to P29.70. Ayala Land Inc. was up P0.60 to P28.45. SM Investments Corp. was up P24.50 to P827.50. PLDT Inc. was up P11 to P1,165. International Container Terminal Services Inc. was up P0.20 to P204. Bank of the Philippine Islands was down P1 to P107.50.
