Positive earnings reports of listed firms in the Philippines and in the United States helped boost the local bourse’s main index on Friday while the peso strengthened further against the US dollar.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained by 0.59 percent, or 41.19 points, to 7,027.38 points on Friday.
All Shares jumped by 0.59 percent, or 21.68 points, to 3,705.46 points. Most of the sectoral gauges also increased during the day – Property, 2.42 percent; Industrial, 0.63 percent; Financials, 0.39 percent; and Holding Firms, 0.03 percent.
On the other hand, Mining and Oil shed by 1.76 percent and Services by 0.46 percent.
Volume reached nearly 1.9 billion shares amounting to P20.12 billion. Decliners led advancers at 103 to 83 while 48 shares were unchanged.
Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales, said the latest changes in the composition of the 30-company PSEi helped boost the value turnover in the local bourse during the day.
He said mixed earnings reports among high-profile listed firms in the US, such as Meta, Apple, Alphabet, and Merck, contributed to investors’ sentiment.
The national government’s report on the drop of its debt to P13.42 trillion as of end-2022 also contributed to the positive sentiments.
Oil prices in the international market fell “as US industrial-linked factory orders dipped while the greenback strengthened, making crude more expensive for non-American buyers.”
Peso gains
The gains of the PSEi were tracked by the local currency, which appreciated further against the US dollar after it ended the week at P53.68 from its P53.845 finish a day ago.
It opened the day at P53.93, up from the previous session’s P54.2 start, and traded between P53.93 and P53.63, resulting in an average of P53.772.
Volume declined to $1.17 billion from the previous day’s $1.62 billion.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the local currency registered a new low in more than seven months or since June 16, 2022 when it closed at P53.47.
Aside from the PSEi’s improvement, Ricafort attributed the peso’s appreciation to, among others, the weakness of the US dollar to its eight-month low, expectations that the rate hike cycle of the Federal Reserve is nearing its end and the increase in bond prices after the rate hike in the European Central Bank and the Bank of England’s key rates.
