PH stocks, peso gain ground amid possibility of US recession

BOUNCING BACK. Both the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) and the peso recovered on Tuesday (Oct. 11, 2022) as investors note reports raising the possibility of US’ economic recession. The peso regained against the greenback at 58.865 after again hitting its record-low of 59.00 close the previous day. (Pexels Photo)

MANILA — The local stock barometer recovered on Tuesday while the peso followed after a negative start for both this week.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 0.25 percent, or 14.79 points, to 5,847.37 points.

All Shares trailed with an increase of 0.11 percent, or 3.34 points, to 3,152.44 points.

Half of the sectoral gauges tracked the main index, namely Financials, 1.24 percent; Industrial, 0.32 percent; and Holding Firms, 0.31 percent.

On the other hand, Property, Services, and Mining and Oil fell by 0.50 percent, 0.38 percent, and 0.29 percent, respectively.

Volume was thin at 906.4 million shares amounting to PHP4.22 billion.

Decliners surpassed advancers at 93 to 84, while 42 shares were unchanged.

“Philippine shares closed moderately higher after being sold down yesterday as investors weighed comments from JPMorgan CEO (chief executive officer) Jamie Dimon, who warned that the US would likely fall into a recession over the next ‘six to nine months’ and said the S&P 500 could fall another 20 percent depending on whether the Fed (Federal Reserve) engineer a soft or hard landing for the economy,” said Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation (RCDC) head of sales.

Limlingan said investors also stayed at the sidelines ahead of the release of US’ Producer Price Index (PPI) and the consumer price report.

He also cited the drop in oil prices in the international market, a reversal of its performance in the past days, “as investors weighed global recession fears against potentially tight supply.”

Limlingan said Brent crude oil futures fell by 0.7 percent to USD97.23 per barrel and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) by 0.4 percent to USD92.57 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the peso gained against the US dollar and finished the day at 58.865 after hitting its record-low 59.00 on Monday, the second time after closing at this level last Oct. 3.

It opened the day at 58.97 and traded between 58.83 and 59.00. The average level for the day stood at 58.955.

Volume rose to USD642.35 million from day-ago’s USD400 million.