MANILA – The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed the week breaching the 7,000-mark while the local currency further weakened to PHP49-level on Friday.
With all counters finishing in the green territory, PSEi closed today’s trading improving by 38.25 points at 7,002.26.
It was on February 11 this year that the local bourse finished at 7,000-level.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort noted that the local stock market responded positively to the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data, which indicates that the Philippine manufacturing sector is recovering.
All shares increased by 19.54 points to 4,294.97.
Mining and Oil shares gained the most on Friday increasing by 102.52 points to 9,838.56, followed by Holding Firms with shares up by 27.19 points to 7.026.58, Industrial shares higher by 26.57 points to 9,701.48, Services shares went up by 23.55 points to 1,614.81, Property shares increasing by 18.06 points to 3,375.14, and Financials with shares increasing by 4.36 points to 1,518.49.
The volume of shares traded at the end of the week reached 2.77 billion amounting to PHP5.48 billion.
Some 108 listed firms gained their shares, 100 posted decrements, while 36 were unchanged.
“The expected increase in Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) vaccine arrivals especially in third quarter 2021 and/or fourth quarter 2021 would help further reduce new Covid-19 cases and, in turn, would justify further re-opening of the economy and eventually help improve economic recovery prospects and investment valuations, going forward,” Ricafort said.
He, however, said this could be offset by the new coronavirus variants, which are more contagious, as well as delays in vaccine arrivals.
Meanwhile, the Philippine peso continued to weaken on Friday ending at 49.20 from 49.11 to a dollar from the previous day.
Peso opened the day at 49.28 to a dollar and traded between 49.08 and 49.31, bringing the average level for the day at 49.18.
The currency pair’s current trading level is weaker than the market’s forecast for the third quarter, according to the latest Business Expectations Survey of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
BSP reported that businesses expect the peso and dollar to trade at 48.6 within the third quarter of the year, and slightly weaker for the next 12 months at 48.7.
Total volume traded at the end of the week was lower at USD956 million from Thursday’s level of USD1.35 billion. (PNA)
