MANILA – The local bourse continued to rally for the fifth consecutive days following the lower unemployment data, while the peso slightly gained but still closed sideways during mid-week’s trading.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished Wednesday 23.71 points higher to 6,155.03 level, with broader All Share also went up by 7.17 points to 3,17.51 level.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said the PSEi gained on the back of the latest employment data, which is “still among the best levels since the pandemic started”, lower-than-expected inflation data released the previous day, and the gross domestic product (GDP) growth report for second quarter of 2023 on Thursday.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday that September 2023 unemployment rate declined to 4.5 percent from 5 percent rate a year ago.
Likewise, a day ago, the PSA said inflation eased to 4.9 percent in October from 6.1 percent in September of this year.
“The PSEi’s recent streak of gains also supported by the recent gains in the US stock markets,” Ricafort said.
He added the continued decline of global oil prices also supported investors’ sentiment.
Sector performances were mixed on Wednesday, with Industrial, Property and Financials ending in the positive territory, while Mining and Oil, Holding Firms and Services, closed in the red.
Meanwhile, the peso finished sideways at 56.05 to a US dollar, 0.07 better than last day’s close of 56.12.
It opened the day at 56.09 from Tuesday’s kick off at 56.
The local currency went to a low of 55.95 to a high of 56.10 to the greenback.
The weighted average for the day settled at 56.03 to a dollar.
The volume of trade slowed down to USD1.24 billion from previous day’s volume of USD1.62 billion. (PNA)
