MANILA – The local bourse closed in the green territory in the last minute of Thursday's trading, while the Philippine peso ended the day stronger against the US dollar on the back of easing inflation in August.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) snapped its two-day shedding as it finished 0.38 percent higher at 6,907.97.
All Shares, likewise, grew 0.26 percent to 3,739.27.
Counters were mixed again with those ending in the green including Services, Industrial, and Financials, while losers included Property, Holding Firms, and Mining and Oil.
"Philippine shares overcame the negative price action overseas to finish higher at 6,907.97. Meanwhile, Wall Street edged lower yesterday, with all three major indices down for the week as key employment reports loom. Investors are anticipating Thursday's release of weekly jobless claims data, followed by the August nonfarm payrolls report on Friday," Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
"Investor sentiment got a boost as the latest August CPI (consumer price index),data came in better than expected at 3.3 percent," Limlingan said.
He said value turnover for the day was at PHP4.59 billion net of extraordinary block sales, with the decliners (94) almost at par with the advancers (96), while 46 names were unchanged.
Meanwhile, the local currency finished strong gaining 0.37 at 56.21 to the US dollar from 56.58 to the greenback closing on Wednesday.
The peso opened the day at 56.50 before trading between 56.21 and 56.51.
Average exchange rate of peso and dollar stood at 56.37.
Trade volume gained by USD4.4 million on Thursday from the previous day's volume. (PNA)