MANILA -- The Philippine peso ended the week much improved against the US dollar, back at the 51-to-the-greenback level while the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) sustained its rally for the second day in a row on improvements in risk sentiment.
The local currency ended this week at 51.965 from the previous day’s 52.15. A trader attributed this come back to lower hedging rate for the US dollar overnight. The trader said a drop in non-deliverable forward (NDF) prices overnight “is actually interesting” given that the US currency remains strong.
“This can be due to improvement in overall sentiment since local stocks are mostly on the positive trend since yesterday,” the trader said.
Another trader said the peso’s improvement was due to Standard & Poor’s (S&P) decision on Thursday night to change its outlook on the Philippines’ credit rating from Stable to Positive due to sustained improvement of the country’s external payments position and economic and fiscal situation.
For the day, the local unit opened at 51.95, up from 52.25 a day ago. It ranged between 52.03 and 51.89, resulting to an average of 51.965.
Volume reached USD806.05 million from USD736.2 million in the previous session. The currency pair is seen to trade between 51.70 and 52.10 next week.
Meanwhile, the PSEi’s improvement was, in turn, traced to lesser foreign selling after the main gauge’s recovery a day ago and the S&P decision.
It ended the week at 7,721.02 points, up 1.36 percent or 103.60 points. It was tracked by all the other indices, with the All Shares up by 1.17 percent, or 53.78 points, to 4,671.83 points.
The sectors were led by the Holding Firms, which rose 2.66 percent, and followed by the Mining and Oil, 1.29 percent; Industrial, 1.19 percent; Property, 0.66 percent; Financials, 0.19 percent; and Services, 0.07 percent. Volume for the day reached 1.6 billion shares amounting to Php7.1 billion.
Gainers led losers at 124 to 69 while 52 shares were unchanged. (PNA)
