PSEi rallies as BSP rules out mammoth rate hikes
Investors welcomed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) stance to go slow on future policy rate hikes as the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) breached the 6,500 territory on Wednesday.
The benchmark PSEi climbed by 1.25 percent, or 80.67 points, to settle at 6,510.32 while the wider All Shares index rose by 0.76 percent, or 25.61 points, to close at 3,415.76.
“The local market extended its rally … as investors cheered [BSP] Governor Felipe Medalla’s comments that the BSP could be done with big policy rate hikes. This comes amid expectation that the Federal Reserve will slow down with their monetary tightening, Philstocks Financial Inc. senior research analyst Japhet Louis Tantiangco said.
He noted “positive cues” from Wall Street also helped fuel Wednesday’s surge.
All sectors ended in the green. Property index took the lead with a 2.57-percent increase, followed by holding firms with a 1.56-percent gain.
About 802.39 million shares amounting to P5.88 billion were traded. Winners outpaced losers, 105 to 83, while 46 issues were unchanged.
BDO Unibank Inc. was the most actively traded as it fell by 0.38 percent to P129.50 per share.
Sta. Lucia Land followed, increasing by 5.90 percent to P3.05; AbaCore Capital Holdings Inc., down 19.75 percent to P1.91; SM Prime Holdings, up 1.71 percent to P35.60; Jollibee Foods Corp., flat at P256; and Ayala Land Inc., up 4.98 percent to P28.45.
Other active names were International Container Terminal Services Inc., flat at P186; SM Investments Corp., up 2.99 percent to P895; Ayala Corp., up 2.90 percent to P675; and Universal Robina Corp., up 3.19 percent to P132.50.
