PSEI UP. The Philippine Stock Exchange index closes at 6,245.18 on Friday (Dec. 1, 2023), up by 21.45 points. The peso, on the other hand, closed at 55.4 to a dollar. (PNA graphics)
MANILA – The local stock market ended the last trading day of the week on a positive note while the peso moved sideways on Friday.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 21.45 points to close at 6,245.18 while All Shares also went up by 4.39 points to 3,332.22.
Almost all sectors gained except for Financials and Mining and Oil, which dropped by 7.12 points and 34.09 points, respectively.
"On the last trading day of the week, the local bourse gained by 21.45 points (0.34 percent) to 6,245.18 as investors bought bargain stocks following the two straight days of market decline," Philstocks Financial, Inc. assistant research manager Claire Alviar said.
"Moreover, the sentiment was also boosted by the hopes that the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates further amid the slowdown in the rise of the US’ personal consumption expenditures price index last October."
Volume reached 1.4 billion shares with a total value of PHP4.4 billion.
Advancers led decliners at 92 to 79, while 41 shares were unchanged.
The peso, meanwhile, moved sideways, closing at 55.4 to the dollar on Friday from the previous day's close of 55.485.
It opened the day at 55.55 from Thursday's kick-off at 55.45.
The currency pair traded between 55.39 and 55.57, bringing the day's average to 55.48.
The total volume of trade amounted to USD1.1 billion, down from Thursday's USD1.2 billion. (PNA)
