MANILA – The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed stronger ahead of the long holidays while the local currency ended flat Wednesday.
PSEi gained 0.03 percent, or 1.99 points to end trading at 7,204.38 points.
All shares increased by 0.10 percent or 4.31 points to 4,294.45 points.
Most of the sectors finished higher except for Holding Firms and Property, which fell by 0.06 percent and 0.38 percent, respectively.
Gainers were led by Services, with index up by 0.71 percent, followed by Mining and Oil, up by 0.54 percent, Financials, up by 0.44 percent, and Industrial, up by 0.22 percent.
“Optimism towards the passage of a new fiscal aid got overshadowed the re-imposition of lockdowns and travel bans brought about by newly discovered Covid-19 strains,” said Luis Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corp.
Meanwhile, the Philippine peso ended sideways at 48.07 from Tuesday’s trading of 48.1 against a U.S. dollar.
The local currency opened the day at 48.08 from the previous day’s opening at 48.1 to a dollar.
It traded from a low of PHP48.04 to a high of PHP48.09.
The volume of trade rose to USD679.2 million from USD457.4 million the previous day. (PNA)
