MANILA -- Philippine equities rebounded Monday after a two-day decline, while the peso weakened against the US dollar as investors took note of another hump in the US-China trade discussions.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 1.79 percent, or 138.23 points, to 7,877.19 points, which BPI Research attributed to “strong Chinese data, with foreign investors seen returning to the local market after nine straight days of selling”.
News reports said China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI rose to 51.8 in November, higher than the 51.5 expected by the market.
BPI Research noted “the latest figure also marked the fastest expansion in the country’s factory activity since December 2016”.
Another plus is the better-than-expected official manufacturing index, which came in at 50.2 “indicating growth in the sector after six months of contraction.”
“Both improvements reflected the pick-up in demand amid the government’s stimulus measures,” it added.
The rise of the main index was followed by most other counters, with the All Shares rising by 1.16 percent, or 53.84 points, to 4,686.68 points.
Property registered the highest increase among the sectors with 2.20-percent jump and was trailed by the Financials, 1.97 percent; Holding Firms, 1.96 percent; and Industrial, 0.65 percent.
Mining and Oil and Services dropped by 3.21 percent and 0.30 percent, respectively.
Volume totaled 1.28 billion shares amounting to PHP5.3 billion.
Decliners surpassed losers at 104 to 86, while 49 shares were unchanged.
On the other hand, the peso slipped to 51.08 from 50.81 Friday last week on news that China will retaliate on US’ decision to support Hong Kong protesters.
Reports said China will impose sanctions on some American non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and stop processing request of US military ship and aircraft visit to Hong Kong.
With these factors, the peso opened weaker at 50.85 from 50.7 in the previous session.
It traded between 51.08 and 50.79, resulting in an average of 50.892.
Volume totaled a little over USD1 billion from USD1.11 billion at the end of last week.
The currency pair is seen to trade between 50.90 and 51.20 on Tuesday. (PNA)
