IMPROVING. Measures to address the banking issues in the US and the Switzerland help improve investors sentiments resulting in another rise of the local bourse's main index on Wednesday (March 22, 2023). Meanwhile, the peso finished sideways against the US dollar partly due to the wait-and-see stance for the Federal Reserve's rate decision on Wednesday. (PNA graphics)
MANILA – The local bourse’s main index gained anew on Wednesday and the peso finished the day sideways as investors took note of measures to address banking-related issues in the US and in Switzerland.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) inched up by 0.24 percent, or 15.52 points, to 6,546.27 points.
All Shares followed with a jump of 0.19 percent, or 6.47 points, to 3,499.97 points.
Most of the sectoral indices also gained during the day, namely Services, 1.07 percent; Financials, 0.52 percent; Industrial, 0.40 percent; and Property, 0.29 percent.
On the other hand, Holding Firms fell by 0.24 percent and Mining and Oil by 0.06 percent.
Volume reached 413.61 million shares amounting to PHP4.23 billion.
Advancers led decliners at 98 to 77 while 49 shares were unchanged.
“Philippine shares rose for a second day on easing fears over the ongoing banking crisis,” Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation (RCDC) head of sales, said.
He also said that investors are on a wait-and-see stance for the decision of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) after their two-day meeting ending Wednesday (March 22, 2023).
“Most investors expect the central bank to stay committed to its tightening and raise rates by 25 basis points,” he said.
Meanwhile, prices of oil in the international market rose “as the rescue of Credit Suisse eased worries about global banking sector risks that could hit economic growth and fuel demand.”
Brent crude oil futures rose by 0.95 percent to USD74.49 per barrel and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) by 1.20 percent to USD68.45 per barrel.
Relatively, the peso ended the day at PHP54.5 from the previous day’s PHP54.44.
It opened the day unchanged at PHP54.3 and traded between PHP54.75 and PHP54.28. Average level for the day stood at PHP54.519.
Volume increased to USD1.4 billion from day-ago’s USD1.08 billion.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort traced the peso’s performance partly to the anticipations on the rate decision of the Fed, the correction in global oil prices and US Treasury yields, and further improvement of the PSEi.
For Thursday, the local unit is seen to trade between PHP54.40 and PHP54.60 to a greenback. (PNA)
