The local stock barometer firmed up on Thursday, ending a five-day downturn as investors took heart from upbeat US markets and hopes for an upcoming COVID-19 vaccine.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 34.47 points or 0.6 percent to close at 5,772.86, supported mainly by domestic hands that made up for the sustained foreign outflows.
On Thursday, it was reported that the Philippine jobless rate improved to 10 percent in July from a record high 17.7 percent in April, but this hardly affected the market.
Stock dealers said the PSEi’s gains for the day were instead mostly driven by the rise of benchmark stocks to nearly record highs alongside hopes for an upcoming COVID-19 cure.
American infectious disease health expert Dr. Anthony Fauci had said in a TV interview that a COVID-19 pandemic cure could come by the end of the year.
On the decline in Philippine jobless rate to 10 percent, ING Philippines economist Nicholas Mapa said more Filipinos were employed as large-scale lockdown measures were eased in the second quarter.
“The employment situation improved despite the influx of fresh graduates with business activity normalizing somewhat after the standstill in March and April,” Mapa said.
Despite an improvement from earlier numbers, he said the country was still a long way from prepandemic conditions.
“Given the sustained rise in new infections and partial lockdown measures in place, unemployment figures will likely remain elevated well into next year. With gross domestic product numbers seen to be in contraction all the way to first quarter 2021, prospects for a quick reversal to the 5 percent level will remain remote until we see GDP pickup to the 6-percent norm,” Mapa said.
The financial and services sectors boosted the PSEi, both gaining over 1 percent.
Value turnover for the day hit P5.27 billion.