Philippine stocks extend rally while peso sets new low
Services shares led sector gains as investors awaited a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas policy decision.
A 15.34-point advance took the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) to 5,821.51, extending its winning run to five sessions as the peso reached a new record low against the US dollar. The benchmark gained 0.26 per cent ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) policy meeting.
At the close, the peso stood at 63.361 per dollar, down 27.1 centavos from the previous record low of 63.09. Trading began at 63.01 and the currency briefly reached 63 before touching 63.373, its weakest intraday level on record.
The wider All Shares index finished at 3,238.61 after adding 4.43 points, or 0.14 per cent. Among sector indices, services had the biggest increase at 1.53 per cent, while financials suffered the steepest fall at 0.61 per cent.
Jash Matthew Baylon, equity trader at The First Resources Management and Securities Corp., linked the stock market's advance to strength in Wall Street and Asian markets. He said investors were accumulating shares before third-quarter earnings announcements, with robust US corporate results encouraging expectations of resilient Philippine earnings. Caution surrounding the BSP decision restrained gains, he said.
Jonathan Ravelas, senior adviser at Reyes Tacandong & Co., attributed the elevated dollar-peso rate to the risk of additional US Federal Reserve interest rate increases. He also pointed to investors positioning themselves before the BSP decision.
