Local shares climb further as peso strengthens

Philippine shares extended their winning run to a third consecutive session on Wednesday on improved market sentiment amid the peso’s gains against the dollar and as bargain hunting continued.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.29% or 17.88 points to close at 6,094.10, while the broader all shares index edged up by 0.06% or 2.25 points to end at 3,670.88.

“The PSEi extended its gains in today’s session as market sentiment turned positive, supported by the peso holding its ground against the greenback, nearing the 57 mark. Moreover, bargain hunting continued to be one of the key drivers of trading activity throughout the week,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

The peso jumped by 16 centavos to close at PHP 58.055 against the dollar on Wednesday, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.

This was its best finish in over a week. It also touched the PHP 57 level during the session, with its intraday high at PHP 57.985 versus the greenback.

“The market continued to track higher, but trimmed its gains after profit taking kicked in when the index touched an intraday high around 6,100,” AP Securities, Inc. said in a market note. The PSEi opened Wednesday’s session at 6,103.46, rising from Tuesday’s close of 6,076.22. It reached a high of 6,110.73 intraday.

Sectoral indices ended mixed on Wednesday. Mining and oil jumped by 1.15% or 172.99 points to 15,165.17; services went up by 1.12% or 25.95 points to 2,330.28; and financials rose by 0.69% or 14.12 points to 2,047.77.

Meanwhile, property went down by 0.87% or 19.86 points to 2,257.60; holding firms fell by 0.21% or 10.46 points to 4,868.15; and industrials decreased by 0.07% or 6.48 points to 8,999.

Value turnover increased to PHP 7.89 billion on Wednesday with 2.58 billion shares traded from Tuesday’s PHP 6.17 billion with 3.17 billion shares changing hands.

Decliners beat advancers, 107 to 95, while 56 names were unchanged.

Net foreign selling went down to PHP 233.37 million on Wednesday from PHP 345.88 million on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, global stocks recovered some of their recent losses on Wednesday after comments perceived as dovish by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell and a slate of positive bank earnings on Wall Street, Reuters reported.

Mr. Powell on Tuesday left the door open to further rate cuts and said the end of the central bank’s long-running effort to shrink the size of its holdings may be coming into view.

His comments lifted markets and reinforced expectations of more easing this year, with roughly 48 basis points worth of US rate cuts priced in by December.

Wall Street futures were set for gains, with Nasdaq futures up 0.5% and S&P 500 futures advancing 0.4%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 2.1%, with Hong Kong stocks adding 2%. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno with Reuters