PSEi starts week with gains, PHP weakens vs. USD

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose for the third consecutive trading day by 0.75 percent, or 59.45 points, to 7,992.37 points. (PNA PHOTO)

MANILA, Aug. 7— Philippines’ main stocks gauge finished Monday on a positive note but the peso weakened to a greenback after the higher-than-expected rise of non-farm payrolls in the US in  July 2017.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose for the third consecutive trading day by 0.75 percent, or 59.45 points, to 7,992.37 points.

A trader said investors’ risk appetite were mostly up during the day given the developments overseas, with the US reporting improved non-farm payrolls in the seventh month this year.

Latest non-farm payroll figure increased by 209,000, higher than the 183,000 projections. The previous month’s level was revised up by 9,000 to 231,000.

With this, all the other indices also went up. The broader All Shares index ticked-up  0.40 percent, or 18.98 points, to 4,753.36 points.

The sectors were led by the Holding Firms, which increased by 1.02 percent followed by the Financials, 0.73 percent; Services, 0.61 percent; Mining and Oil, 0.48 percent; Industrial, 0.18 percent; and Property, 0.02 percent.

Volume for the day totalled to 1.4 billion shares amounting to PHP4.88 billion.

Decliners led advancers at 99 to 88 while 59 stocks were unchanged.

On the other hand, the peso finished the day at 50.35 from 50.16 last Friday.

Another trader pointed this to positive economic reports from the US, which the trader said made some investors hopeful for possible hike in the US Federal Reserve rates in December.

The peso’s weakness during the day showed early on when it opened the week at 50.30 from 50.20 in the previous session.

It traded between 50.37 and 50.25 resulting in an average of 50.31.

Volume for the day was lower at USD428.9 million compared to the USD631.3 million in the previous session.

The currency pair is seen to trade between 50.20 and 50.40 Tuesday.