MANILA – Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno's projections of a sustained slowdown in inflation, which is seen to hover around the 2 percent level in the second half of this year, buoyed both the main equities gauge and the peso Wednesday.
The local unit ended the day at 52.165 to the greenback from Tuesday’s 52.24.
A trader said Diokno’s projection of further deceleration of rate of price increases, which slowed to 3.8 percent last February from month ago’s 4.4 percent, boosted market sentiments.
The peso started the day at 52.28, weaker than its 51.80 opening in the previous session.
It traded between 52.15 and 52.41, resulting in an average of 52.281
Volume reached PHP1.31 trillion, a drop from the PHP1.48 trillion a day ago.
The currency pair is seen to trade between 52.10 and 52.30 Thursday.
Relatively, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) inched up by 1.97 percent, or 150.72 points, to 7,821.34 points.
All the counters trailed, with the broader All Shares up by 1.44 percent, or 68.17 points, to 4,809.07 points.
Property registered the highest uptick at 2.42 percent and was followed by Industrial, 1.68 percent; Financials, 1.65 percent; Holding Firms, 1.62 percent; Services, 1.18 percent; and Mining and Oil, 0.48 percent.
Volume reached 1.53 billion shares amounting to PHP6 billion.
Gainers led losers at 113 to 88 while 38 shares were unchanged. (PNA)
