Philippine Stock Market and Peso Gain Strength Amid Bargain Hunting

In Manila, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) saw a robust performance on Thursday, buoyed by investors seeking undervalued stocks. The PSEi ended the day up by 1.14%, reaching 6,113.19 points, while the All Shares index also climbed 0.79% to 3,647.73. The mining sector led the gains, surging 2.70% to close at 7,630.64. Other sectors also posted gains: Services increased by 2.61% to 1,998.23, Industrial by 1.81% to 8,688.81, Holding Firms by 1.09% to 5,171.65, Property by 0.13% to 2,255.87, and Financials by a modest 0.08% to 2,256.11. According to Japhet Tantiangco, research manager at Philstock Financials, the market’s upward trend was driven by bargain hunters and anticipation of positive developments from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) policy meeting. However, the BSP’s Monetary Board decided to maintain current policy rates, as announced by Governor Eli Remolona. The day’s trading volume reached PHP5.76 billion, surpassing the year-to-date average of PHP5.26 billion, although foreign investors were net sellers with outflows amounting to PHP369.44 million. On the currency front, the Philippine peso strengthened, closing at 58.06 against the US dollar, up from 58.19 the previous day, marking a 0.13% gain. The peso fluctuated between 58.02 and 58.34 during the day, with an average rate of 58.22. Trading volume in the forex market increased to USD1.64 billion from USD1.24 billion.