MANILA – The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recovered on Tuesday on risk-on sentiments amid the Chinese property developer’s debt crisis, and the peso followed.
The local stock barometer rose by 0.34 percent, or 23.30 points, to 6,881.20 points.
All Shares moved sideways after dipping by 0.03 percent, or 1.34 points, to 4,264.99 points.
Half of the sectoral gauges tracked the main index with the Property index rising by 0.72 percent; Services, 0.62 percent; and Holding Firms, 0.39 percent.
The three other indixes fell during the day - Industrial, 0.68 percent; Mining and Oil, 0.67 percent; and Financials, 0.26 percent.
Volume was thin at 860.44 million shares amounting to PHP7.08 billion.
Decliners surpassed advancers at 116 to 64, while 51 shares were unchanged.
“Investors bought into Philippine equities, which were perceived to have less exposure to China Evergrande’s debt crisis that rocked Wall Street overnight,” said Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales.
Reports said the Chinese property developer has around USD305 billion worth of liabilities, and S&P Global Ratings believes it is on the brink of default.
Limlingan said China Evergrande’s March 2022 bond interest payment is due on Thursday, wherein it has to pay around USD83.5 million.
He said another payment, worth USD47.5 million, is due by the end of this month for its March 2024 notes.
“The market expects a low recovery ratio and foresees Evergrande’s doom to further decelerate the Chinese economy and cast a pall over commodity prices,” he added.
Meanwhile, the peso posted an improvement after closing the day at 50.14 against the US dollar from its 50.24 finish on Monday.
It opened the day at 50.17 and traded between 50.21 and 50.08.
The average level for the day stood at 50.133.
Volume totaled USD998.7 million, lower than the previous session’s USD1.12 billion. (PNA)
