Stocks rally on BSP rate cut news

Philippine stocks rallied on Friday on news the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is open to further interest rate cuts, a move that will unleash added liquidity that is typically a boon to the equities market.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) jumped 1.7 percent, or 133.47 points, to 7,970.02 while the broader All-Shares index was up 1.42 percent, or 68.31 points, to 4,890.37.

In an interview with Bloomberg released on Friday, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno promised that more rate reductions were on the way, with the timing based on upcoming economic data. Diokno also said he wanted to further lower the reserve requirement ratio for banks.

The news helped lift the PSE, whose sub-sectors all closed in the green yesterday. Mining and oil was the top gainer at 3.59 percent, followed by property, up 2.28 percent, and industrial, up 1.71 percent.

Close to 700 million shares valued at P8.49 billion changed hands on Friday. There were 105 gainers against 72 decliners while 52 companies closed unchanged.

Property giant Ayala Land Inc. was the most actively traded as it rose 2.7 percent to P49.50 a share.

It was followed by BDO Unibank Inc., up 0.95 percent to P138; Ayala Corp., up 1.1 percent to P919; SM Investments Corp., up 1.4 percent to P942, and Universal Robina Corp., up 2.45 percent to P167.

Other actively traded stocks were Jollibee Foods Corp., up 2.13 percent to P288; PLDT Inc., up 5.47 percent to P1,350; SM Prime Holdings, up 2.05 percent to P39.80; International Container Terminal Services, up 0.07 percent to P136, and Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 2.02 percent to P80.80 a share.