MANILA – The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recovered after a five-day slide due to a better employment report while the peso ended Thursday sideways against the US dollar.
The main equities index rose by 0.60 percent, or 34.47 points, to 5,772.86 points.
All Shares increased by 0.45 percent, or 15.51 points, to 3,489.52 points.
Most of the sectoral indices tracked the main index, led by Services, which posted an uptick of 1.39 percent.
It was followed by Financials, which rose by 1.17 percent; Industrial, 0.75 percent; Holding Firms, 0.50 percent; and Mining and Oil, 0.07 percent.
Only the Property index ended the day’s trade on the red after it fell 0.21 percent.
Volume totaled to 961.02 million shares amounting to PHP5.27 billion.
Gainers led losers at 105 to 77, while 48 shares were unchanged.
“Local shares closed higher as the unemployment situation in the country improved to 10 percent in July from 17.7 percent in April,” Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sale, said.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Thursday reported that the unemployment rate in the country was estimated at 10 percent in July 2020, higher than year-ago’s 5.4 percent but better than the record-high 17.7 percent last April, following the implementation of lockdown measures to address the rise of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infections.
Also, the labor force participation rate (LFPR) in July improved to 61.9 percent from year-ago’s 62.1 percent and the lowest-to-date of 55.6 percent last April.
Authorities expect better employment results in the coming months as the economy re-opens.
Another boost to the PSEi is the rise in US stocks “as traders took profits out of high-flying names like Apple and Tesla and snapped up shares in more beaten-down parts of the market,” Limlingan said.
He also said the US-China continues to be among the factors for investors' sentiment, along with developments on the Covid-19 situation globally.
Meanwhile, the peso ended the day at 48.58 to a US dollar, sideways from its 48.53 close a day ago.
It opened at 48.57, little changed from its 48.53 start in the previous session.
It traded between 48.59 and 48.48, resulting in an average of 48.53.
Volume totaled to USD647.05 million, lower than day-ago’s USD701.95 million. (PNA)
