PSEi climbs as data, firms’ results lift sentiment

Philippine shares rebounded on Wednesday as positive economic data and corporate results helped improve sentiment.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 57.48 points or 0.88% to close at 6,530.45 on Wednesday, while the broader all shares index went up by 19.05 points or 0.55% to end at 3,480.16.

“The local bourse gained by 57.48 points to 6,530.45 as the Philippines’ employment rate remained strong in June, despite inching down month-on-month,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Analyst Claire T. Alviar said.

“Employment rate in June was at 95.5%, inching down a bit from May’s 95.7% but still higher compared to June last year’s 94.00%. Moreover, narrower balance of trade in goods in June, especially with the 0.8% year-on-year growth of exports, helped lift sentiment,” Ms. Alviar said.

The labor force size in June increased by 741,000 from the previous month, reaching 51.17 million, Philippine Statistics Authority data released on Wednesday showed.

Meanwhile, the Philippines’ trade-in-goods deficit narrowed for a third consecutive month in June as imports contracted to a near three-year low while exports were flat as global demand for goods weakened.

Merchandise imports contracted by 15.2% year on year to $10.62 billion, while exports inched up by 0.8% to $6.7 billion.

The local bourse rose as stocks were bought following the release of corporate results and ahead of Philippine second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data due out on Thursday, Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

Economic growth likely slowed to 6% in the second quarter amid elevated inflation and higher borrowing costs, a BusinessWorld poll of 21 analysts held last week showed.

If realized, this would be slower than the 6.4% growth in the first quarter and the 7.5% expansion in the same period in 2022.

This would bring the average GDP growth to 6.2% in the first half, within the government’s 6-7% full-year target.

Sectoral indices increased on Wednesday except for mining and oil, which dropped by 60.78 points or 0.59% to 10,106.29.

Meanwhile, services rose by 21.37 points or 1.36% to 1,590.70; financials climbed by 22.41 points or 1.18% to 1,915.64; holding firms went up by 51.02 points or 0.83% to 6,196.09; property added 7.54 points or 0.27% to end at 2,742.49; and industrials inched up by 2.69 points or 0.02% to 9,136.48.

Value turnover dropped to PHP 3.39 billion on Wednesday with 428.38 million shares changing hands from the PHP 4.58 billion with 622.67 million issues seen on Tuesday.

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 92 versus 89, while 52 names closed unchanged.

Net foreign buying stood at PHP 214.67 million on Wednesday versus the PHP 165.06 million in net selling recorded on Tuesday. — AHH