MANILA – The local stock market and currency both exhibited strength on the first day of trading this week.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) surged back above the 6,000-point threshold following a three-day rally, posting an 88.76-point increase on Monday, bringing the index to 6,078.03. All Shares also saw an uptick of 29.10 points, settling at 3,292.15.
Except for the Industrial sector, which experienced a slight dip of 2.50 points, all sectoral indices concluded the day in positive territory. The Holding Firms sector saw the most significant gains, with shares rising by 126.43 points.
Claire Alviar, the assistant research manager at Philstocks Financial, Inc., attributed the strong PSEi performance to “the robust Philippine manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers’ index) data and a decrease in US long-term Treasury yields.” Alviar also mentioned, “Upcoming economic data releases, including the expected improvements in the inflation rate and GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate, further bolstered market confidence.”
The total market value turnover on the local stock market reached PHP3.21 billion.
Advancing stocks slightly outnumbered decliners, with 87 to 86, while 51 issues remained unchanged.
Robust start for the peso
On the currency front, the peso had a robust start to the week, closing at 55.91 against the US dollar, marking a 0.19 improvement from the previous week’s closing rate of 56.10.
The peso began the day at 55.80, a notable gain from Friday’s opening rate of 56.60. Throughout the day, the currency pair traded within the range of 55.73 to 55.93, with an average rate of 55.83 to the dollar.
Trade volume saw a decline to USD1.15 billion, down from Friday’s USD1.84 billion.
(ai/mnm)
