PSEi recovers, PHP closes at 51-level vs USD

MANILA — Philippines’ main stock index ended its three-day slide Wednesday and the peso remained firm after it finished the day at 51-level to a greenback even with continued risk aversion.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recovered and gained 0.63 percent, or 51.78 points, to 8,221.92 points.

The broader All Shares went up 0.40 percent, or 19.23 points, to 4,851.09 points.

Almost all the sectors followed, with the Industrial leading with an increase of 1.02 percent.

It was followed by the Holding Firms, 0.52 percent; Property, 0.50 percent; Mining and Oil, 0.49 percent; and Financials, 0.40 percent.

Only the Services finished on the red after it shed 0.71 percent.

Volume for the day reached 1.65 billion shares amounting to PHP10.5 billion.

Gainers led losers at 106 to 103 while 39 stocks were unchanged.

The peso closed the trading day at 51.02, slightly down against its 50.935 finish a day ago.

A trader said concerns on the latest US-North Korea conflict continues to impact on the local currency.

The unit opened the day at 50.98 and traded between 50.88 and 51.06, bringing the average to 50.969.

Volume reached USD675.7 million, lower than the USD687.9 million a day ago.

The currency pair is seen to trade between 50.90 and 51.10 Thursday.