Stocks rise on BSP decision, Wall Street’s climb

Philippine stocks closed higher on Thursday to track Wall Street’s performance overnight and before the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policy decision announcement.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) rose by 20.35 points or 0.33% to end at 6,191.48, while the broader all shares index climbed by 6.77 points or 0.2% to close at 3,314.49.

“The PSEi has experienced another uptick despite regional decline in Asia, fueled by the market’s anticipation of a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas rate pause, which was announced after market’s close,” Unicapital Securities, Inc. Senior Equity Research Analyst Carlos Angelo O. Temporal said in a Viber message.

“Now that BSP rates are nearly settled, the market was better able to acknowledge the slightly positive outcomes of the concluding earnings season,” Mr. Temporal added.   

On Thursday, the BSP kept its policy rate at 6.5% amid easing inflation, as expected by 15 of 18 analysts in a BusinessWorld poll last week. Interest rates on the central bank’s overnight deposit and lending facilities were also maintained at 6% and 7%, respectively.

Headline inflation fell to a three-month low of 4.9% in October from 6.1% in September.

However, this marked the 19^th straight month that inflation breached the central bank’s 2-4% target. For the 10-month period, inflation averaged 6.4%.

Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research and Engagement Officer Mikhail Philippe Q. Plopenio said the local bourse was boosted by US markets’ performance.

“Investors took positive cues from Wall Street’s overnight performance amid the decline of the US’ producer price index for October by 0.5%,” Mr. Plopenio said in a Viber message.

US stocks closed slightly higher on Wednesday, as fresh inflation data reinforced investor hopes that the US Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates, Reuters reported.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 163.51 points or 0.47% to 34,991.21; the S&P 500 gained 7.18 points or 0.16% at 4,502.88; and the Nasdaq Composite added 9.45 points or 0.07% at 14,103.84.

Back home, most sectoral indices rose on Thursday. Financials climbed by 10.34 points or 0.59% to 1,753.83; industrials went up by 38.92 points or 0.45% to 8,606; services increased by 4.27 points or 0.28% to 1,488.56; property inched up by 4.59 points or 0.17% to 2,663.15; and holding firms improved by 7.90 points or 0.13% to 5,962.30. 

Meanwhile, mining and oil dropped by 32.16 points or 0.33% to 9,511.36. 

Value turnover stood at PHP 3.9 billion with 411.32 million issues changing hands, lower than the PHP 4.52 billion and 447.76 million shares seen on Wednesday.

Advancers beat decliners, 88 versus 81, while 48 issues ended unchanged.

Net foreign buying stood at PHP 484.46 million on Thursday versus the PHP 147.18 million in net selling seen on Wednesday. —  R.M.D. Ochave with Reuters