MANILA – Philippine shares improved on Wednesday, reflecting United States’ markets, while the local currency dropped for the second trading day.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 0.12 percent, closing at 6,856.77, while All Shares increased by 0.16 percent to 3,572.10.
Philstocks Financial, Inc. assistant research manager Claire Alviar said the local bourse took “positive cues from US markets overnight, attributed to the decline in US treasury yields.”
“Investors were also awaiting the decision of the Federal Reserve on interest rates as well as their policy outlook for the year,” Alviar added.
Sectoral indices were mixed, with gainers led by Services, up by 1.22 percent, while the biggest decline came from Property counters, down by 0.64 percent.
Advancers led decliners at 101 to 92, leaving 43 counters unchanged.
Meanwhile, the Philippine peso closed weak dropping to the 56 level.
The peso shed 0.21, ending at 56.13 to a US dollar from 55.92 on Tuesday.
The local currency began the day weak at 55.87 versus last day’s opening of 55.68.
The currency pair traded between a low of 55.87 and a high of 56.16, bringing the average level to 56.03 for the greenback.
The volume of trade surged to USD1.54 billion from the previous day’s trading of USD1.31 billion. (PNA)
