The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) saw a rebound on thin volume on Friday after three concussive sessions of declines, lifted by bargain hunters and rosy comments from incoming finance chief, Benjamin Diokno, on the country’s mounting deficit.
By the closing bell, the PSEi added 0.82 percent, or 54.57 points, to 6,741.40 while the broader all-shares index rose 0.58 percent, or 20.73 points, to 3,602.52.
Trading volume continued to wane ahead of the weekend, with 1.1 billion shares valued at P4.61 billion changing hands. The session also saw a net inflow of foreign buying to the tune of P15.2 million.
Diokno said they would work with the present taxation regime while revealing plans to bring down the country’s deficit relative to economic output to 3 percent by 2028 from the current 7-8 percent.
“To me, the tax system as it is now will give us the right level of revenues. I agree with the outgoing administration that we need what is called a fiscal consolidation plan,” Diokno said in a televised interview.
In a separate report, the closely-followed Fitch Ratings upgraded its outlook on the Philippine banking system to “stable” from “negative” due to improving business prospects in the postpandemic period.
Meanwhile, all PSE subsectors ended positive on Friday, led by mining and oil (+2.28 percent), property (+1.38 percent) and industrial (+0.8 percent).
SM Prime Holdings Inc. was the most actively traded during the session as it gained 2.02 percent to P37.90 per share.
It was followed by Ayala Land Inc., up 1.52 percent to P30; Semirara Mining and Power Corp., up 2.92 percent to P37; Globe Telecom, down 0.94 percent to P2,328; and SM Investments Corp., up 1.05 percent to P865 per share.
Rounding out the actives list were PLDT Inc., up 2.38 percent to P1,937; JG Summit Holdings Inc., up 4.35 percent to P53.95; BDO Unibank Inc., up 0.31 percent to P128.50; Converge ICT Solutions Inc., down 1.56 percent to P25.20; and Jollibee Foods Corp., down 0.77 percent to P206.40 per share.
Overall, there were 102 advancers against 89 decliners while 42 companies closed unchanged, PSE data showed.