MANILA – The local bourse snapped its nine-day losing streak on bargain hunting and higher gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the Philippines this year, while the peso continued to trade at the 57-level.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 45.07 points, or 0.70 percent higher, to close at 6,450.04.
However, it still failed to lift the index to the 6,500 level.
All Shares, likewise, improved by 20.17 points, or 0.59 percent, to 3,430.02.
Among sectoral indices, only the Property counter recorded losses at 1.74 percent, down to 2,458.75 points.
Financials gained the biggest, with shares up by 2.07 percent to 2,014.34. This was followed by Industrial (+1.46 percent), Mining and Oil (+0.80 percent), Holding Firms (+0.79 percent), and Services (+0.17 percent).
“Investors took the opportunity to buy bargains near the 6,400 support level,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. assistant research manager Claire Alviar said.
“Adding to the positive sentiment, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised its growth forecast for the Philippine economy to 6.2 percent for 2024.”
Advancers led decliners at 98 to 85, leaving 53 counters unchanged.
Meanwhile, the Philippine peso continued to weaken, trading at the 57-level for two straight days.
The peso shed 0.18 on Wednesday, closing at 57.18 to the US dollar from the previous day’s 57 close.
It opened the day weaker at 57.10 from Tuesday’s kick-off at 56.85.
It traded between a low of 57.1 and a high of 57.33, bringing the average level for the day to 57.20 to the greenback.
Those with US dollars took advantage of the higher exchange rate as the volume of trade increased to USD1.9 billion compared to the previous day’s USD1.1 billion. (PNA)
