PSEi rises 0.73% on inflation report, expectations of another BSP rate cut

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) rose on Thursday after the Philippine Statistics Authority said the inflation rate last month hit its lowest in almost three years—further bolstering the case for another rate cut in September.

By the end of trading on Thursday, the PSEi rose 0.73 percent or 57.33 points to 7,898.19. The broader all-shares index was also up 0.43 percent, or 20.51 points, to 4,774.28.

The PSA announced on Thursday that the headline inflation rate decelerated to 1.7 percent in August on the “slower annual increase in the index of the heavily weighted food and nonalcoholic beverages.”

An analyst said this raised expectations that the central bank would cut rates anew to unleash liquidity and support economic growth.

Sentiments on Thursday were positive as all subsectors, save for mining and oil (down 3.66 percent) closed higher. Property firms, up 0.96 percent, led gainers while services rose 0.83 percent and holding firms gained 0.82 percent.

A total of 869.68 million shares valued at P7.11 billion changed hands yesterday. There were 113 gainers against 77 losers while 53 companies closed unchanged.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is spinning off its hospital unit via an P83-billion initial public offering, was the most actively traded as it gained 4.81 percent to P5.23 per share.

It was followed by SM Investments Corp., down 0.1 percent to P1,031; BDO Unibank Inc., unchanged at P145; SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 0.29 percent to P34.05 and Megaworld Corp., up 3.19 percent to P5.18 per share.