MANILA – The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) started the week strong, climbing by 1.16% to 7,554.68, while the All Shares index gained 1.02% to close at 4,082.97. Leading sectors included Property, up by 2.05%, and Services, rising 1.9%.
Four out of six indices ended in positive territory, with Financials and Mining and Oil falling slightly by 0.46% and 0.39%, respectively. Advancers outpaced decliners, 129 to 79, with 49 issues unchanged.
Investors were buoyed by the significant slowdown in inflation for September, raising hopes for further monetary easing by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Optimism was also fueled by expectations of potential rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve, according to Philstocks Financials’ research manager, Japhet Tantiangco.
Despite the positive stock market performance, the peso depreciated, closing at 56.83 to the US dollar, down from last week’s 56.38. The local currency traded between 56.58 and 56.84 throughout the day, with an average of 56.71. Trade volume dipped to USD1.3 billion from Friday’s USD1.51 billion.
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