PSEi tracks Wall Street’s rise, peso gains vs. dollar

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished the shortened trading week at 7,140.29 points, up 1.77 percent or 124.23 points. (Shutterstock photo)

MANILA — Both the local bourse and the Philippine peso ended the week on a positive note, mirroring the outcome of US stocks ahead of the long holiday.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished the shortened trading week at 7,140.29 points, up 1.77 percent or 124.23 points.

All the other counters registered gains, with the All Shares up by 1.41 percent, or 60.66 points, to 4,370.46 points.

Industrial led the sectors after it rose 2.16 percent, followed by the Holding Firms, 1.87 percent; Property, 1.79 percent; Financials, 0.95 percent; Services, 0.80 percent; and Mining and Oil, 0.40 percent.

However, volume remained thin at 604.84 million stocks amounting to PHP7.3 billion.

Gainers reversed the ratio after surpassing the losers at 100 to 84, while 45 shares were unchanged.

Regina Capital Managing Director Luis Limlingan said local investors took advantage of the window dressing session in the US, as well as the record-high US consumer confidence data “to help boost buying sentiment today.”

The US consumer sentiment posted an 18-year high index of 137.9 this October from 135.3 last month.

On the local front, Limlingan said investors expect the release of more earnings report next week, as well as the release of the October 2018 inflation on Nov. 6, and the third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) report on November 8.

Relatively, the peso finished the week’s trading at 53.535 to a greenback, a tad better than its 53.59 close Tuesday.

In its market report, BPI attributed the peso’s positive close to the slight easing of trade tensions following reports saying US President Donald Trump seems optimistic over the outcome of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping next month.

It also cited greater demand for the peso ahead of the long weekend, as additional boost for the local currency during the day.

Similarly, a trader said the peso tracked the performance of local stocks following the improvement in Wall Street.

For the day, the peso opened at 53.

55, sideways from the 53.61 start in the previous session.

It traded between 53.58 and 53.5, bringing the day’s average to 53.527.

Volume surged to USD1.014 billion from USD726.23 million a day ago.

The currency pair is seen to trade between 53.50 and 53.70 next week.