MANILA – Bargain hunting lifted the main stocks index on Tuesday while the peso finished the day sideways against the US dollar.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.75 percent, or 52.34 points, to 7,008.94 points.
All Shares jumped by 0.49 percent, or 18.16 points, to 3,715.79 points.
Majority of the sectoral gauges also finished the day with gains namely Financials, 2.08 percent; Services, 1.32 percent; Property, 0.66 percent, and Holding Firms, 0.11 percent.
On the other hand, Industrial slipped by 0.58 percent and Mining and Oil by 0.39 percent.
Volume reached 1.11 billion shares amounting to PHP6.67 billion.
Decliners led advancers at 81 to 77, while 60 shares were unchanged.
“Philippine shares were bought up at close with investors speculating after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is open to higher rate hikes to combat rising inflation,” said Luis Limlingan Regina Capital Development Corporation (RCDC) head of sales.
Last week, the Federal Reserve’s key rates were hiked by 25 basis points to between 0.25 to 0.50 percent, the first increase since December 2018, which is aimed at addressing the accelerating consumer price index in the US.
Reports quoting Powell said the Fed is considering a 50 basis points increase in its key rates in the coming weeks.
The optimism in the equities market was also felt in the foreign currency market after the peso ended the day at 52.44 from its 52.35 close a day ago.
It opened the trade at 52.44, weaker than its 52.31 start in the previous session.
It traded between 52.47 and 52.385, resulting in an average of 52.427.
Volume reached USD953.1 million, higher than the previous day’s USD599.8 million. (PNA)
