Shares climb ahead of PH Q2 GDP, US CPI data

Stocks ended higher on Monday as investors picked up bargains and stayed on the sidelines before the release of second quarter Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) and the July US inflation data later this week.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 56.94 points or 0.88% to close at 6,507.78 on Monday, while the broader all shares index went up by 26.31 points or 0.76% to end at 3,473.92.

“Local shares headed higher on Monday amid bargain hunting after a steep fall during the prior trading day… The market tentativeness was on account of the continued slump in Wall Street as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite plummeted for a fourth straight session, and notched their worst weeks since March,” Papa Securities, Inc. Equities Strategist Manny P. Cruz said in a Viber message.

Wall Street stocks fell on Friday, while the US dollar and Treasury yields were lower, after a government jobs report showed a slowing but still tight US labor market, Reuters reported.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 0.4% and the S&P 500 slipped 0.5%, reversing gains earlier in the day. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down about 0.4%, propped up by a 8% surge by Amazon.com.

“For the week, investors will be looking forward to the local GDP print and US CPI (consumer price index) report by the tail end of the week,” Mr. Cruz added.

Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan likewise said shares rebounded due bargain hunting as market participants await the US CPI report and economic data releases locally.

The Philippine Statistics Authority will release second-quarter GDP data on Thursday.

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.

Meanwhile, July US CPI data will also be released on Thursday.

Back home, all sectoral indices went up on Monday, except for property, which fell by 22.95 points or 0.83% to 2,738.20.

Meanwhile, services gained 30.57 points or 1.99% to end at 1,560.84; industrials increased by 123.06 points or 1.36% to 9,127.62; holding firms climbed by 65.44 points or 1.06% to 6,203.19; and financials went up by 6.66 points or 0.35% to close at 1,910.53.

Value turnover fell to PHP 3.26 billion on Monday with 578.13 million shares changing hands from the PHP 6.64 billion with 540.93 million issues seen on Friday.

Advancers outnumbered decliners, 97 versus 82, while 51 names closed unchanged.

Net foreign selling went up to PHP 399.3 million on Monday from PHP 245.42 million on Friday. — A.H. Halili with Reuters