PSEi, PHP up on strong flows to local equities mart

Both the Philippine peso and the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished Thursday on positive notes due mainly to foreign fund flows in the local equities market. (Photo by Katrina.Tuliao (https://www.tradergroup.org) [CC BY 2.0)

The main stocks index rose 0.96 percent, or 73.49 points, to 7,755.75 points. A trader attributed this to bargain hunting.

The trader said positive earnings report attracted investors but noted that mining stocks pulled back before the trading ended after a strong performance earlier in the day.

Mining stocks were active in the early part of the day on news about the rejection by the Commission on Appointments (CA) on the appointment of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez.

Profit-taking, on the other hand, rose in the afternoon session reversing the strong gains earlier in the day, the trader said.

All Shares also registered improvement after it rose 0.72 percent.

Most of the indices tracked the main index led by the Services, which rose 1.46 percent.

Property rose by 1.22 percent, Holding Firms by 0.97 percent, Financials by 0.75 percent, and Industrial by 0.42 percent.

Mining and Oil, on the other, fell 0.26 percent.

Total volume for the day reached 4.77 billion shares amounting to Php 7.52 billion.

Gainers led losers at 116 to 80 while 47 shares were unchanged.

The peso finished the day at 49.87, an improvement from 49.95 a day ago and after touching the 50-level mid-trade.

Hawkish statements from the Federal Reserve, which kept its rates steady after a two-day meeting on May 2-3, backed the US currency but foreign fund flows during the day helped buoy the peso, another trader said.

The trader said expectations for a June 2017 hike in the Fed rate has risen to 90 percent to date after Fed officials maintained a positive economic outlook and dubbed the slower economic activity in the first quarter as “likely to be transitory.”

This put a dent on the peso, which fell to 50.02 but foreign funds flows in the local equities market also helped the local currency strengthen to 49.86.

This resulted in a 49.92 average for the local unit for the day, little changed from the 49.93 a day ago.

Volume of trade reached USD645.3 million, higher than the USD528 million Wednesday.

The currency pair is seen to trade between 40.80 and 50.00 Friday.