Stocks hit 7,000 level; peso ends flat vs. dollar

MANILA – The local stock barometer ended the first trading day of the month higher after rising to the 7,000-level ahead of the holidays while the peso ended sideways against the US dollar.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 3.21 percent, or 218.10 points, to 7,009.56 points.

All Shares trailed with a jump of 2.42 percent, or 99.39 points, to 4,199.67 points.

Most of the sectoral indexes also gained during the day, led by the Property counter with a 4.55-percent increase.

Holding Firms index posted an uptick of 4 percent, Services inched up by 3.20 percent, Industrial by 1.96 percent, and Mining and Oil by 1.40 percent.

Only the Financials ended the trade in the negative territory after it slipped by 0.78 percent.

Volume totaled to 4.04 billion shares amounting to PHP10.9 billion.

Gainers led losers at 119 to 102, while 35 shares were unchanged.

Along with the expectations for a Christmas rally, Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, said the local bourse was also lifted by shares sale during the MSCI rebalancing last week.

“Likewise, US stock futures rose Monday night after the major averages notched sharp monthly gains for November,” he said.

Limlingan said prices of oil in the international market slipped due to “uncertainty about OPEC+ would agree to extend its deep output cuts at talks this week.”

But he said Covid-19 vaccine hopes kept crude benchmarks on track to rise by more than +25 percent in November.

“Gold dropped to a five-month low and was on track for its worst month in four years as optimism over a swift vaccine-fueled economic recovery dented allure for safe havens,” he added.

Meanwhile, the peso finished the day at 48.05 from 48.06 Friday last week.

There was no trading on Monday in line with the national holiday on the commemoration of the birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio, a hero.

The peso opened the day’s trade at 48.11 and traded between 48.16 and 48.045.

Average level for the day stood at 48.11.

Volume totaled to USD722.6 million, lower than the previous session’s USD783.4 million.